


Reverie of a Rhapsodist

by Rabenfeder



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Bazz having a crush, Fluff, Link having a crush, Link lost himself, Link lost his friends, Link remembers but doesn´t, Link talking to himself (?), Lynels in love, M/M, References to other Zelda titles, Sadness, Sidon having a crush, This fanfic is a crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 09:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22073638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabenfeder/pseuds/Rabenfeder
Summary: Never let chances go by. Especially if you have the chance to befriend a Lynel!Or tell your best friend that you love him.
Relationships: Bazz/Prince Sidon (Legend of Zelda), Link/Prince Sidon, Link/Sheik (Legend of Zelda)
Kudos: 69





	1. The Lynel

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to ROAR, my first fanfiction here on Ao3.  
> I hope you enjoy my brains output, and excuse the errors I may have missed. XDv

It was a fierce battle. The sound of metal on metal errupted through the air, earth and stone screeching under their hooves, as the impact shoved them over it. 

This… this **brat** dared to challange _him_ for his territory?  
He would teach him some lessons, that was for sure!

The rain reduced the temperature of the air around them, making their battle heated bodys steam as they looked into each others eyes, blood red and filled with hatred on both sides.  
His white mane was soaked from the rainwater and sweat, sticking to the skin of his ebony, humanoid torso. The white stripes hardly visible anymore by the wetness, dirt and blood on him.

 _You will pay, for getting_ my own blood _on me_ , the White-Maned Lynel thought, roaring so loudly it would be heard all over the Plateau, before charging another stampede, the blade of his massive sword pointed at his enemy.

A young, Red-Maned Lynel, just barely his own hight.  
There was no way, he would loose to a Red-Mane! He was supperior! The better sorts!

Another clash of weapons, as the intruder blocked his thrust with his giant metal club. The red tufted legs moved back a step, his body out of the way, as he guided the older ones sword to the ground, one handed. With a thundering roar of his own, his free hand crashed into his opponents face, hitting his jaw full foce.

The older was thrown back, resulting in loosing his grip on his sword. 

**Brat** , he thought, growling through gritted teeth as he shortly shook his head to get the dizziness away. _You want melee? I will give you melee!_

He reared up, brought himself into position before dashing forward, bending over so his gruesome horns were angled at the younger. Holding up his club horizontally in front of him like a shield, he withstood the impact, though getting shoved back by it.

 _Now I have you!_  
The White-Maned grunted, as the muscles in his legs shifted, making him move, making him walk forward, shoving the intruder further towards the edge of the cliff they were fighting on. Off the Plateau. He would never see this **little shit** ever again!  
His fiercely eyes looked up, he wanted to see his face when he pushed him over!

There was... a surprised feeling, as he saw the young one locking eyes with him – smiling. 

Grinning even. 

A shit eating grin! The White-Maned wanted to push harder, fueld by his rage.

The sharp hoove hit him right where horse and humanoid body met. It forced him back, gasping. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the massive club meet the ground, splashing water and mud as it was abandoned from its owners hand. The taller body jerked forward again quickly, trying to continue the pushing, but strong, clawed hands with red tufts gripped his horns and held against him with all might. 

Both bodies strained to the brim, snarls and angry bristles heard. For a moment, none of the opponents moved, standing there, hooves gouged deep into the wet ground.  
Then the Red-Maned leaned forward, their eyes met, face leveled.  
Another grin. Stuck-up. Vain.

The light bounced off the sharp teeth as he moved his lips, his tounge giving the growling sounds different meanings.

**„Your time´s up, old man.“**

The younger moved his arms, the older barely had time to notice how he was now held back with just one hand at a horn.

Then the pain bit. Sharp. Cold. The red eyes, that seemed to fade into a kind of purple around the pupil, widened. Then looked down, where the dagger was driven deep between his rips.

And for a moment, there was nothing.  
Only the distant sound of thunder, the rain falling almost peacefully around them.  
His frontlegs were about to give in, but the second hand was back on his other horn, starting to pull, draging him along. 

Towards the edge oft he Great Plateau.

The realisation of what was about to happen, snapped the shock away and he forced his hooves into the ground with all his might. But the terrain was too wet, too slippery from the hours of rain this day.

Realisation turned into fear, fear into horror. He buckled, tried to rear himself free, his body adrenalin driven and in instinctual panic. But the dagger, left behind in his side, bit again with every movement, the pain hindering his muscles to obey him.

Every instinct within screamed at him to break free, otherwise he would die!  
No! He couldn´t! He hadn´t done everything! There was so much left! So much-

And time held still. As if everything came to a halt as he suddenly felt nothing. There was no air around him, no wind against his skin and fur. No rain that clashed against him, soaking him. No pain from the wounds. 

And no ground beneath his legs, his hooves. He saw the figure of the red maned, dark skinned Lynel, standing with his arms out since he had just thrown the other over the cliffside. Triumphant, shit-eating grin on his face!

The feeling of his stomach turning, made time spin again as he felt his body being dragged down, by the comand of nature. The blink of an eye, long as eternity, no time to think yet thinking a million toughts at once, no time to feel, yet an ocean of feelings washing over him.

There was a loud, agonised scream, full of rage and fear all the same, and suddenly- 

Silence. 

The Lynel hadn´t heared how his own body had crashed into the ground, far below the Greate Plateau. He didn´t hear the victory roar coming from above, louder than every storm. He couldn´t hear the rain, or the wind in the trees. Couldn´t hear the water of the creek murmuring around him or see the bloody stream it took with it. Neither could he hear his own breath, nor heartbeat dying out more and more. 

_Dying. I am dying,_ he tought regretfully. A tear making it´s way over his nose, camouflaged perfectly by the rain as he tiredly closed his eyes. He´d lost.

_I am sorry. I am so, so sorry..._

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Glittering in the sun sunlight, a droplet of water made it's way over the rim of a flowepetal. The blue, bellshaped flower turning itself towards the sunlight to gain warmth and energy. Birds sang their songs, enjoying the late morning hours to the heart. 

A leather gloved hand reached out, carefully grabing around the plants stem, cutting it off with a small knife. Looking at the herb, he smiled appreciatively, since this kind of plant was usually hard to find, during the day. He shook off a bit of the rainwater, placing the Blue Nightshade into his herbpouch.

As Link got back up from his kneeling position, he streched his body and yawned. The night had been uncomfortable, the rain that had started during the day and stayed all night, forcing him to find shelter underneath a half disrooted tree. Together with the felt-fabric he always used as a tent it was somewhat dry but the dampness had found it's way into his clothes, leaving him to shiver. Paired up with the roaring rain and distant thunder, it prevented him from sleeping most of the night.

To warm up and get his doublet completely dry again, he tried to walk more within the sunlight that found it's way between the trees.  
Along the little creek that made it's winding way through the forest near the cliff of the Great Plateau, the young looking Hylian found a cooking place that looked like it had made it quiet good through the night. Lighting his last bundle of dry wood, he took the pot from the support, dumping the mossy water from it and turning to the creek to wash and refill it.

But as Link kneeled down, he frowned. Something about the water was... odd. The colour seemed a bit rusty somehow.

 _Hm. Maybe just some molding plants upstream. Or somesort of irondust, outwashed by the storm last night_ , he thought. Pearhaps the water would be clearer somewhere upstream.

A last securing look towards the fire and Link and his pot were on their way to find a more ... healthy looking part of the creek. Muddy water had such a bad aftertaste afterall. 

Not that he knew from experience or anything. Nah.

Upstream the water seemed to get dirtier and a nervous feeling grew inside of the hero's guts. The kind of wary he felt when in a hostile surrounding.

The grip around the pot hardened. It would pass as a shield if necessary and if thrown, it could at least cause a distraction. His left hand grabbed the handle of the old knights sword he had found a few days prior. It wasn't in best shape, dents and scratches were all over the blade, but it would hold up until he - hopefully, would be able to affort something from this decade. He cursed inwardly for not bringing his rifle. Or the slate, for that matter, as he had left it behind with the rest of his pack, only the sword was strapped to his back. For now what he had needed to do!

At least he hoped so, until he rounded another tree, struggling through the surroundig bushes- and froze as he looked back up. Every muscle in his body tensing up, his instincts screaming at him not to make even ONE wrong move!

In the blink of an eye, Link was back behind the wide tree, pressing his back against it. Scolding himself for being so careless, not bringing his gear, he held his breath and listened. 

Nothing.

No signs of movements, no sounds of snorting or displeased bristels. No hooves on the ground or angry growles.  
Only the gentle mumbling of the flowing water, wind in the leafs around him and birds singing. The only buzzing sounds were made by bugs and insects around him but not from sparkling shock arrows.

Wary of the situation, Link gazed around the bark. The body laying there was massive. Maybe the largest Lynel the Hylian had ever seen.  
Or maybe it was just average, honestly he had no idea. He had ever only seen these creatures from a far, save distance.  
The one and only time he had a somewhat close meeting with them, left behind a warm, cozy feeling.

Of pee.

Down his trousers.

He bearly got away alive.

An incident he would never tell anyone about! Not while he was still breathing! He would rather get trampled down by those creatures!

But as it seemed, not from this one. The body layed still, its back towards the hero. Link could hardly identify this one as a White-Maned, its fur was muddy and wet.  
From what he had read in the Compendium, one of the most dangerous ones. Not that there were any not dangerous ones. Greate.

Link stepped forward a little, trying to make not a single sound, cussing on the inside for having his herbpouch not with him. The Blue Nightshade would ease his nerves and stealthen his movements. The grib around his sword and the cooking pot still hard and ready. 

Not a single twitch came from the creature so far, so he positioned himself, ready to leap back if necessary. And with the tip of his sword he poked slightly against the Lynels behind. A tense moment and- not even a shudder. No movements at all.

 _Is it dead_ , he wondered and glanced around the giant body, his feet carefully following until he stood in front. 

Seeing what layed there before him, made him lower his weapon, his mood following as well, making room to a unusual sadness, he had not forseen to feel.

As a kid he had heard storys, read in textbooks about them. Out on missions he made good to go around their territorys, save for he one time one had actively been his target.

Those had the reputation of frightning, brute yet very proud and somewhat comely beings.

Seeing now, how this mighty creature layed down in the mud, with deep, bloody scratches and bruises all over it´s dirt covered body made him feel… sorry.

One of its hind legs, the one it landed on, was streched out in a position that probably meant a dislocated hip. The front leg oft he same side looked swollen, surely broken. The hooves had scratchmarks on them, dents and cracks.  
One of its horns was broken, only loosely held on by some last strands of tissue, a small rill of blood dryed around it. The knife sticking out of their humanoid upper body, indicated that this wasn´t an accident.

Link raised his head and looked up the cliff to the Greate Plateau. It´s been weeks since he had left up there, so if this Lynel had lived there, he was glad they had never met. Otherwise he probably could have gone right back into the shrine.

_Who did this to you?_

His eyes got back on the body, looking into the lion-face. The mouth was open, the tounge lolling out a bit, tipping into the water. The once white mane looked raffled and sticky, filled with mud and sticks and leaf from the trees the Lynel had fallen through. Surely they were broken ribs as well. 

If someone would ask him why he felt sad and sorry for a dead Lynel, a creature that would kill him on sight, he had to say, that he did not know. Maybe it was because it was part horse. Link liked horses. He missed Epona dearly…  
Also it was part lion which technically made him part cat and he realy, realy did like cats. Also dogs but nothing came to his admiration towards cats.

But no. It just felt so wrong, to see this almost regal being down like this. All dirty and beaten. A showcase of, regardless how strong you are, there always will be someone stronger than you. Link had felt that sensation. And deep inside he feared it, only hoping that this time, he would be the slayer, not the slayed.

Slowly the Hylian got on his knee, fishing a stray leaf out of the Lynels mane. His hand then wandered to its flank, feeling the short, soft hair on a rather clean spot. His eyes locked on the stabwound and the knife still stuck to it, a slow stream of blood dripping down the side into the water, where it formed the red stream that had him come find the bested creature. The blue eyes closed slowly, as he said a silent prayer for this fallen warrior.

_…Huh?_

The hero frowned. There was something knocking on his fingertips. Very light, very gentle almost not there at all. His eyes opened, again looking at the blade.  
_Dead bodys..._

_…don´t bleed!_

He was up on his legs in the split of a second, rushing to step into the ankle high creek. Quickly he bent down, raising the big lion head above the water, placing it on his lap so it wouldn´t accidentally twist into the water, drowning the… unconscious one?

Yes, as he layed his hand on the human chest above it´s heart, he could feel another very faint bumping underneath the skin. 

The Lynel was still alive!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to the LiS discord server for helping me out whenever I got stuck with some words and generally just inspiring me to even write this story down! ^O^
> 
> Apprently ´fierceful´ is not a word. \o_o/


	2. A Granted Life

What was he supposed to do now?

Link frowned, looking down into the gravely wounded Lynels face. How would he be able to help them? Could he even help them? 

Also, **should** he even be helping?  
It surely would not happen the other way around, so why even consider, to save the life of a creature, that would gleefully crush his head between its massive, clawed hands?

But on the other end of the story, what kind of hero would he be, dissecting a lifes worth. Wasn´t like he was killing Bokoblins for fun and game.  
Certainly, a Lynel was a hostile creature, but this one was just… beaten. Hurt. And at the brink of death. It wouldn´t just spring up the next moment, ripping his limbs appart.

And a saved life was a saved life, no matter whom it belonged to!  
Which still left him with the question to how? The body was massive, weighing nearly half a ton for sure! Getting it out of the water alone, was somewhat asking for a miracle!  
For now he secured the head with the turned over pan, so it stayed safely above the water. Then he got up, running fast, back to his original campfire to grab his pack. A quick look through offered him his options, which weren´t many but still… maybe the hero could make it happen!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

How exactly he´d gotten the rope around the horse body like a harness was beyond him, as he looked down at his work. The upper body was wraped as good as possible into his blanket, the bigger felt-fabric that he usually used as a tent somewhat tucked underneith its rear. The legs were secured by another rope, so they wouldn´t drag over the floor, as he now simply had to pull the body on the felt, and then he cold easily pull him further away from the creek, towards the treeline where it would be more sheltered.

Yeah. Simple. Easy. Exactly the words he would use right now, next to light-as-a-feather and could-even-do-it-with-my-left-hand.

 _Well, jokes on you, ´cause I´m a lefty!_ , he thought with a sniff, and rolling his shoulders and neck. Then the Hylian bent down, grabbing the rope and guided it around a tree in as straight a line he could manage. This would work right? For sure!  
Another deep breath and he stemmed his feet into the ground, pulling as hard as he could. Link moaned, gritted his teeth at the struggle, but after some moments, he felt it! Aided by the wet mud, the Lynels body moved. Slowly but steady and with one, two heave hos it slided onto the felt, out of the water.

Good, now just keep at it!

Quickly the young man grabbed the other pair of ropes, that were hooked to the fabric, guided it around the stem as well, noting how the first had brushed off some bark from the tree. „Sorry, tree.“, he mumbled, then taking a breath again before once more, pulling with all his might, until the body was underneath said tree. He took a moment to let the burn in his muscles ebb away, before turning towards the Lynel again, untieing all the ropes.

„Now, let´s see how tough you guys realy are.“, Link said, as he had a more thorough look at the wounds. The shape of the legs made him bite his lips nervously. If a Lynels horse body had any normal horse laws in common, the broken leg was a death sentence in it on itself. But what worried him more was the knife, still stuck in the humanoid side. Until now, the Hylian had not dared to touch it, but now he had to do something about it. This would truly decide over the next moments of a life that would either be saved or forsaken.

The flask containing a red liquid, was quickly uncorked, as nervous glance towards the others muzzle made the hero think about his life choices.  
He swallowed heavily, as he opened it up enough to… 

_It´s easy Link_ , he thought, trying to brace himself. _You just have to… stick your hand into this gaping deathole full of spiky, razorsharp teeth and get some oft he potion into it! It´s not like you could… loose your hand or anything! They´re **unconscious**! Nothing can go wrong!_

**„ARGH!“**

He instantly ripped his hand back, as a swallowing reflex made the Lynel twitch his mouth close for a short moment. Gasping he looked at the few punkture wounds around his wrist. Luckily they were only slightly bleeding... And his hand was still where it belonged!  
„See? Piece of cake.“, he told himself, trying to ignore the shiver that run down his spine.

After he calmed himself for a moment, he looked back at the knife and took jet another breather.

„Here goes nothing.“ Potions, cloth and bandages ready, his fingers grabbed firmly around the handle. Weirdly enough, the motion of pulling out the blade, felt strangely familiar.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was dark. He felt hot and uncomfortable to say the least. There was pain everywhere and he couldn´t remember the last time it wasn´t like this.  
So, this was death? Wasn´t he supposed to feel nothing at all anymore? Or at least a bright light, surrounding him with a warm and soothing feeling?

There was a faint smell. Fire.  
And while there were no instincts that comanded him to get away from it, he wondered.  
_Then... Hell?_ , he thought, and was actually a little dissapointed. 

He remembered the storys of the Bipedals, fearing this place of everlasting fire and agony. Where the sinners went to face their punishment of eternal… well, punishment. Crutial pain mostly. And while he didn´t believe too much in any holy eternity above, he never denied a possibility of some devine creatures, at the beginning of everything that created the world and bestoed life upon it. But he´d never beliefed, he would be such a bad guy, to deserve hell? He didn´t even kill that many people, since… well, he never met that many in the first place, living on the Plateau and all.  
Was it about the rabbits? Must be about the rabbits! Maybe that little shiny one with the owl-face was something devine, and he angered the gods… It had been good though…

He had even found some Rupees around afterwards, weither that was related or not, but it was a nice circumstance...

A face appeared in his inner vision, and suddenly the pain he felt was a different one. Yes… **that** was worthy of deserving hell… A broken promise and a shattered friendship.  
And not even a chance to make up for it. Not that there was much hope to even get one, but now there was nothing left. How did he end up here? He didn´t remember. 

_I must have hit my head by the fall-_

That´s it! He fell from the cliff because of that **brat** that had dared to challange him!  
…  
He´d lost. 

But how? Why? He was supposed to be stronger! The surperrior race! He was a White-Maned!

 _He_ would have laughed at him.

Would he also cry for him, if he knew? But who would ever tell him anyway?

There was a different smell now, merging with the one of burning wood. Was hell running it´s eternal fires on wood? They must go through a thousand forests that way. He liked the forest, he lived there! But the other smell was savoury with a hint of sweetness to it, that made him… hungry?  
_Carrots._ , he thought, but there was also something meaty... Hare!

So it **was** about the rabbits then! He could understand very well, why the bipedals also held them as pets, their figure all cute and fluffy, but also so damn tasty!  
So what if he ate one more than he had needed to sate his hunger?  
Wasn´t like the two-leggers didn´t do the same… Maybe they got all to hell for it as well then?  
But on the other hand, **they** didn´t ate them like praline…

And this was his punishment now? Surrounded by darkness, never ending pain and hunger, always the smell of his favourite food in his nostrils, along with the smell of his home woods getting burnt?

Well that was… Stupid!  
_Time to wake up!_ , he thought, and felt almost amused by it. How would he wake up? He was de-

A soft moan came over his lips as his eyes opened a little.  
There was something glowy orange in front of him. The fire most likely. The crimson eyes moved around slowly, but all he coud see was shadows and shapes. A figure came into few, moving in front of him, and talking.

„Godesses, you actually managed to wake up!“, the person said. A young… man, he guessed. Another soft moan came from his raspy throat, as something wet, but also pleasantly cold was layed upon his forehead. It made him lick over his nose, which felt awfully warm. So he had a fever it seemed.

„You wanna drink somethin´?“ The Lynels ears twiched a little to that question.  
Yes, water… He tried to communicate his needs, but all he could do, was making husky sounds, while is mouth and tounge moved uselessly. The figure seemed to understand anyway, as he heard the sound of water being moved around, and something was gently pressed to his lips. A drenched piece of cloth, from which he - carefully at first, but more greedy after his body seemed to make the final conection between thirst and water, suckled the much needed liquid. He hadn´t even the capacity of thinking to be ashamed, by basically acting like a foal, being cared for by its mother.

Around 10 times he was treated like this, then the voice came back. It sounded adolescent but still young.  
„That´s it for now. Not wanna upset your stomach. You´ll get more later.“, it said, and it made sense.

Who was that? And why was he taking care of him? Did this person not know, what a Lynel was? What they could do? Well… what COULD he do right now, realy? His eyes grew tired again. A headache maifesting itself slowly, but surely.

„You can sleep if you want. You got hurt pretty bad so… Just rest as much as you need. I´ll wake you up in an hour though. We´ll try to get some light food in you then, yeah?“

What a nice voice. Reasuring, almost. As if everything would be fine…  
He breathed in deeply, carefull of the pain, and then was gone again, calm breathing letting both lung-sets rise and sink in an evenly pattern. 

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The next time, he was woken by someone moving his head. It was carefull, gentle almost. But he could also sense a healthy amout of wary. The red eyes opened and this time, things were a bit more clear. The fire in front of him still was a blur but… The trees on the other side of the creek seemed nice and crisp.  
So no damage to his eyesight then… That was… Relieving. Made archery a hole lot easier.

The Lynels focus was brought back in front of him, as a small, brownish object was placed there. The smell from before was surrounding him again, and made him lick his nose once more. Stew. A good one by the scent of it! 

„I let it cool down a bit.“, the nice voice explained from above him. Now he realised, that his head was propped up on something soft, and that something was the mans lap. Something moved, and the smell got right in front of his nose as the bowl was held before his mouth, which watered up immediately. Carefully he streched out his tounge, then after the first little dip, starting to intensely licking up the stew.  
The man chuckled.

„Of course you´re eatin´ it like this…You´re a cat afterall…“

 **A cat? him?** For real now, who was this guy, daring to compare him to a simple little house-cat? Unfortunatly his angry growl was only somewhat angry, and also only somewhat a growl. More a gurgle, as he still continued to lick the stew out of the bowl, catching the little pieces of meat and vegetables with his tounge.  
Another chuckle for that. 

He could still kill this one, as soon as he was up again!  
No need to hurry tough, since there was already a second bowl waiting.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As he woke up the third time, it was morning and he could actually manage to get his arms in a position, that let him slowly lift up his upper body enough to properly look around. 

There was the creek, gently making its way through the forest. The trees rustled in the light, warm breeze. As he wanted to shuffle his legs, the resulting painfull sting made him turn his head, looking at them. He recognsed the white of bandages around his front leg, and the wooden leg splint. _Broken..._

There were more bandages around his hooves, feeling hardened by some sort of tar. But the position of his right hindleg made him frown. It looked not natural, and every try to moove it resolved in a painfull sensation in his hip. The rest of his horse-part body had cleaned spots around were cuts and bruises had gotten the treatment of some herbal smelling cream. 

Remembering what had further more happened to him, he looked down at his upper body, feeling over the bandages that covered up the blade wound at his side. There was no bleed through, so he was probably treated with a healing potion.

The Lynels eyes wandered over the fireplace to the dark-blonde figure, that laied there on the grass in front of an old trunk. He had a blanket tightly tucked around him as he slept, seemingly deep, only a light frown between his eyebrows.

Why this bipedal helped him, nursing his wounds, and all in all had saved his live, was beyond him. He wouldn't have. And something told him, neither would've any other.

What was it about this guy, that even his kill-on-sight instincts kept silence. Or was he simply thankfull? If that was it, then it surely felt... Like something from another life.

While the White-Maned was deep in his thoughts, Link was slowly opening his eyes. Only when he was rolling on his back, yawning and streching, the crimson eyes stopped staring into nothing, fixating back at the young man. 

The Hylian sat up and rubbed his eyes before looking over, startling a bit as he was directly faced with the big lion head. But then he smiled, and got up on his feet.

"Good mornin'! You want some water? I'll bring you.", Link said, fetching one of the wooden bowls and went over to the water.

All the while, the other watched him, flicking his ear as a cheeky dragonfly was trying to sit down on it. Now that the guy was over at the creek, he could get a good look over at the other. From what he knew of those creatures, he realy seemed to be only just an adult.  
Although, he had an obscure aura to him.

"Seems like you're feelin' better! So the potion did its job.", the young one said, filling the bowl and turning back. He placed it in front of the Lynel, then went back to his pack, roaming around in it.

"There's also some stew left, I'll just get the fire back on, to heat it up... Now where is the flint?" His voice went into a mumble at the end. The Lynels eyes, which were on the bowl he had taken into his hands (it got dwarfed by them!), now wandered to Links back, as the man now pulling everything out of his pouch, in the search of said flint. Then he noticed a strange, club-like device, but paid it no further inspection, as the other had found what he needed.

"There it is, right at the bottom, because of course! I realy should reorder everythin´ into the Slate soon..." Flint in one hand, the blue eyed turned around, placing some fresh logs from a nearby pile into the fireplace. "Now we're gettin' breakfast. Hope you're hungry."

"I am."

Link froze in motion, at the vibrating sound of the rough voice, that had just appeard. 

It was deep and had some sort of growl to it, yet very clear to understand. Nonetheless, he hadn't expected anything like this. His water-blue eyes grew big and he stared at his opposite, who just looked back, seemingly completly at ease with just everything.

The Hylians lips trembled shortly, then he moved his mouth like a fish, before finally his own voice had found its way back. 

"You...talk..."

"I do.", was the flat and simple answer.

"N-no, I mean you CAN talk."

"I can." again, flat and simple. As if this was just a fact Link had yet to learn about.  
"I want to know why you are helping me." The Lynel asked, but Link was still to flabbergasted by this.

"I didn't know Lynels can do that! You also have a name then?", he asked back, weirdly excited, which made the big one simply look at him for some moments. Did he somehow break the little bipedal now?

"...Aslan. Why have you saved my life?", Aslan introduced himself, and then tried again his previous question.

The name sounded familiar somehow, but he couldn't remember why. It felt like something that was even further away than a 100 years.  
Still he felt like a child that had found something new nad amazing!

"Well then, hello Aslan, nice meetin' you. My name 's Link. And I helped you because,- ... Well... You needed it?", he answered, smiling friendly at the other. "That's all the reason that needs to be, isn't it?"

Aslan frowned at him. "I am sure that no one else would have done so. I am a Lynel. We kill the likes of you."

Link shrugged, looking down at the wood and finally getting a spark to ignite it.  
"I'm not dead yet, aren't I? Besides, at the moment I could easily just run from you so... Execuse me when I say, you're not that scary at the moment. Plus, what kind of hero would I be, if I'd differentiate between lifes? You haven't done anything to me, so there is nothing I could hold against you.", he explained, placing the pod with the leftovers above the fire.

"I am a Lynel.", the tall one stated again.

"So? Again, you're not trying to kill me right now. And if you do so after you're healed then, ... well, _rude_." Link crossed his arms, sitting now on the tree trunk and looking stern at the other.

The lion-headed looked back, still unable to make sense off this. Maybe this was just the way this young Hylian had chosen to be. He could respect that, he guessed.

"You said, you would not differentiate between lifes, since you are a hero." Aslan then recalled, looking at the device Link had at his belt. He knew the design, even if he´d only seen them from afar, knew how the people looked like that were represented by it.  
The young one in front of him therefore proved to be not one of them.

The Hylian blinked at that, his posture loosen up again.  
"Ah... well, guess I am. At least that's what everybody's sayin'."  
He stirred the stew around, smiling a little wry.

"How so?", Aslan asked, noting the slight moodshift of the otherwise confident appearing young man.

"Um... That's a rather long story."

The Lynels eyes went over his own, injured body. Links eyes followed before their gazes met again.

"I belive, I have rather much time to listen.", the tall one said simply.

True. The hero sighed.

Well, where should he start then?  
Right now, as he sat here, his life was just as the others. Like he had decided to save, and therefore grant the Lynels life, so had fate decided to bestow upon him as well. 

A granted life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *flashback sounds intensify*


	3. A Terrible Fate

It had been two weeks after the ceremony. A celebration of all the trainees, that had passed the exam to become recruits to the Royal Armee of Hyrule.   
In another year, they would be deciding, if they wanted to follow the path of a soldier or a guard.   
Link knew what he wanted. He wanted to follow in his fathers footsteps and become one of the Royal Knights! The high elite, the best amongst the military higher class. 

Therefore, keeping an eye on the gardens, the hallways and many entrances of the castle, day in and day out, that wasn´t for him. He wanted, _needed_ , the movement, the ability to be up and about, whenever it was necesarry. Just staying around all the time would make him dull. He had felt it once more at the fight against the Hinox, chained up in one of the dungeons, functioning as the last, physical test of strength and tactical finesse. 

Proudly he carried the Hylian Shield they got rewarded with at his side, showcaseing their official status, as he made his way towards the training grounds outside. A white-blond man, maybe two years older than him walked beside him, talking in a voice that made him smile and gave him a very fond feeling.

„Don´t forget, that your _other_ training starts today again as well. Just because you´re a recruit now, doesn´t mean we´re not getting any missions anymore.“, the man said, and nudged his shoulder with his own.

Link chuckled, looking into those unfathomable red eyes that seemed so open-minded and overall just cheerfull at the same time.  
„No worry! I´ll be there, right after todays session! I´m gonna keep up the discipline, I promise!“, he said proudly.  
That made the other man smile. And _that_ made Links heart feeling like it was vibrating.

They had come to a halt where the hallway split in two directions, one to the training grounds, the other to the Guardian research area.   
For a little moment they just stood there, the red eyed man seeming to wait for something, but Link just stared smiling at his face.

As the older came to the conclusion, that the other apparently had stoped working, he got his hands to his hips, looking casual. „Well, we have to part ways here. I´m gonna see were I can find the princess. Bet she´s watching the research again, without permission.“

That made the dark-blonde blink and clear his throat. „Er, yes! And I´ll head for training. Too bad we don´t have you teach us combat anymore.“

„Babysit the princess, combat-training with the trainees _and_ the other thing, sadly leaves not enough room, to also take on the recruit classes.“, he said with an apologetic grin, starting to turn around, raising two fingers in a waving manner. „But we´ll meet up later. See ya.“

Links eyes were locked on the mans back, seeing the shoulder blade long braid slightly bobbing from side to side, as the other walked away. The almost seventeen-year old swallowed, as his grip around his shield stiffened. The palms of his hands grew a little sweaty, at the sudden nervous feeling. It hadn´t been often he felt like this. Taking a deep breath he raised his voice again.

„Hey, uhm-„

The long haired turned around halfway, as he was called again, looking at him expectantly.

He swallowed again, trying to gather all his courage. It was a simple question, but he felt like if he wouldn´t ask now, there would maybe be no other chance for a while.

„I... uh, I just wanted to ask... well I´m free this evening and thought... if you´re as well, then maybe we could-„

Link was cut off, as a sudden tremble went trough the whole castle, multible screams could be heared, accompanied by an upcoming commotion. Both young men stared in direction of the research area. Then they looked at each other, the surprise made way for a stern look on both their faces and then they rushed towards the noise.

Guards and soldiers hurried in beside them, along with Sheikah and regular people, who had, up until now, simply followed their everyday work, now trying to see what had happened. 

The screams Link could hear sounded terrified, angry or in pain.  
„Hylia above, no!“ – „How did this happen?“ – „Stop it! Just stop it you idiots!“ – „It went rouge! Get away! Get away!“ – „Run!“ – „My Leg! Help me!“ – „Help!“ - „Somebody do something! Anybody!“

As the young men arrived at the scene, it was like a small warzone. People were running, others trying desperatly to helped a few wounded, at least two Sheikah layed on the ground, completely still. Then they saw it.   
One of the Guardians, roaming around causing havoc!  
The long, tentical-like arms swirling around, knocking the soldiers away, as well as the Sheikah Warriors that tried to get it from behind.

And then it started.   
The **sound.**  
The most horrific, terrifying sound Link had ever heard in his life. It sent shivers down his spine, made him feel cold and everything within him screamed, to turn around and run away, as the crazy looking eye of the Guardian started blinking, more and more rapidly.

But Link didn´t run away.  
His feet _start_ to run, but instead of away, he made his way around all the fleeing people, step for step closer towards the Guardian.

Somewhere behind him, the young Sheikah and others screamed his name, warned him and calling him back to safety, called him a fool, an idiot, out of sheer panic and worry.

But Link barely noticed.  
He only heard that blood-freezing sound as it grew faster, louder, more dangerous. And as it seemed to reach its peak, he jumped. 

He jumped high up in the air and it was, as if time slowed down around him. Now all he could hear, was his heartbeat, rapid and adrenalin driven.

He took a deep breath and calmed it, until it was strong and even. He raised his arm, held up his shield as he curled his body up behind it.

Right before the laser hit him full blast. Link felt himself being pushed away, as the lightbeam bounced off the sturdy material, right back to where it came from, piercing the Guardian right through its eye.

And as the young man landed on his feet again, both hands on the ground for support, there was total silence for a moment, before within the blink of an eye, time had cought up again.

The Guardians head exploded, leaving behind a smoking hole and the legs gave in, plummeting the heavy body to the ground livelessly.

There was still a lot of commotion going on around him, as Link slowly got up, looking at the machine he just fought off. But now the voices were cheering, thanking the godesses and some still calling him an idiot.  
But now in a more relieved way, at least.

He looked over to his friend, who stared at him with an open mouth. Link smiled, somewhat to show that he was fine, otherwise a little apologetic.

„Link!“

Another voice came up and Link turned around in an instant, as he heard it. A tall, well trained man with a neatly groomed beard hurried towards him, worry in his blue eyes.

„Link, are you all right? What happened here?“

Link smiled at him in a similar, yet different way as he did to the young Sheikah. The urge to just apologise grew strong within him, as he felt sorry to make this man worry. He cared much for this man and he knew very well, that this man cared at least thrice as much for him. His father.

„I... don´t realy know actually. I just wanted to help!“, The young Hylian said honestly.

„And so you did, young man!“, another voice, this one unfamilar to him said. Link and his father looked over to the demolished Guardian. Slowly a small group of soldiers and Sheikah had gathered around it. The voice belonged to a Sheikah, just a little taller than Link with the an outfit that specified him as one of the scientists and spectacles on his nose. „A bummer you destroid it, but given the circumstantces, it seemed the only way. At least now we can look at it from the inside, see what caused the malfunction. Good job kid.“, he said and nodded towards him.

Link smiled widely, happy he was indeed able to help and nodded back. Then he looked back up to his father, who had just taken in all the information. He smiled at Link, proud and relieved that his child was all right.   
Others gathered around, congratulating and thanking Link for his doing. Some asked how he´d done it in, what didn´t even seemed a second. But the young man didn´t have an answer for that, shrugging.

Links father only laughed at that and gave him a good pat on the back. „I knew you´re gonna be a great fighter one day, the moment you allready took on grown up soldiers, being just four years old!“, he proudly said, which made Link blush a little as he peeked over to the young, white-blonde Sheikah, that seemed to be astonished by what just had happened.

„Promising signs indeed.“

The kings bassy voice made everyone stand straight in the blink of an eye. Link, his father and the other soldiers and guards fell on their knees, the Sheikah respectfully bowing down, the right hand layed on their chests, right above the heart.  
Only the ones helping the injured kept going with their tasks, hurrying to aid their comrades.

„I may ask for your name, young recruit.“, the king said, standing only a few steps in front of him.

„My name is Link, your majesty.“, he answered, loud and clear, eyes still towards the ground, just as he was teached.

King Rhoam nodded slightly.  
„Stand up, Link. Let me see you properly.“

The young man did as he was told, straightening his figure, his eyes looking ahead. He felt the older man looking him up and down, his bearded head leaning slightly from side to side.

„How old are you, Link?“

„Sixteen, turning seventeen next month.“

Another nod. Then the royal eyes fell on Links father.

„Royal Knight. Do I understand, that this is your son?“

As his title was spoken, he stood up as well, his face was calm but Link could somewhat _hear_ the proud smile in his voice as he answered.  
„Yes, my Lord.“

„Well my friend, then it shall fill you with pride, that I want your son to take part in the Divine Ritual.“

At that, the knights expression fell, his eyebrows drawn together.  
„But my Lord! He is way to young and just recently became a recruit!“

Link blinked as he tried to focus his eyes forward and not towards the two older men. Something here seemed to go in a weird direction?

„Hylia alone will decide, if he is ready or not. I have seen great potential. We should not let age stand in the way of a possible outcome, that could one day save us all.“ King Rhoam placed his hands behind his back, which straightened his figure, making him seemingly even more authorical than he already was.

As his fathers figure fell down, Link was startled, gasping as he saw his father kneeling again but on both knees, his head bent down in a pleading way.

„My Lord, I beg of you! Do not bring such a burden upon my child!“  
Never had Link seen his father beg for something like this. What in all the Godesses names was going on here?

Another slight gasp, as now the King came down to a knee, placing one of his big hands on the knights shoulder.

„As I said, Hylia alone may decide over his destiny.“ His voice sounded softer now, almost gentle. „I can understand you very well, my friend, as I am a father too. But also I am king, and therefore I cannot allow myself to overlook such capability.“

King Rhoam got back up, now looking at Link who was torn between doing what he was teached to do in front of the king, and caring for his parent. But the warm hand that now was placed on his own shoulder, made him focus on the bearded man in front of him.

„May the blade choose wisely.“, he said to him, patted his shoulder and then turned away, leaving the area together with his Royal Guards.

Now Link got down to his father, holding his shoulders as the older man shivered clearly, clenching his hands into fists.  
At his side, another figure knelt down and red eyes met his. His friend looked at him with a stern impression.

„We need to talk.“

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

He just wanted to help. That was _all_ he ever wanted. Joining the Royal Army, following up his father, making him proud, being able to protect what was important to him! And maybe yes, even make somewhat of a name for himself to be able to live a free life besides his dutys.

Now he stood here, in this giant, old forest and simply felt... lost.  
No, more like drowning. There was mumbling all around him, whispering and murmuring. All the higher-ups from the castle were here, including – of course, the king and his daughter. The young Sheikah man stood beside her, his face stern as he took his duty as her bodyguard very siriously. Slightly behind and off to the side stood another Sheikah. A woman, tall and slender, supervising everything from were she stood. 

Link felt her eyes on him. He felt everyones eyes on him.

He knew, a lot of the ministers, priests, ambassadors from the far away regions and high ranked soldiers were talking about him. About this CHILD that now stood amongst some of the finest warriors, Hyrule had to offer.   
Link had his eyes pinned at the floor, not daring to look up and make eyecontact with anyone. He didn´t even want to glance beside him, towards his father, not wanting to see the worry in his eyes.

The air around him felt so heavy and hard to breath. He felt unable to calm himself, he didn´t want to be here! Here underneath this giant Sacred-Tree, who also seemed to stare at him.  
He knew what big of an honor it was, to take part in the yearly Devine Ritual, a ceremony where all the strongest, most honorable knights and warriors pledged their allegiance, and offered their whole _beings_ to only one thing.

The thing, this whole place was dedicated to.

**The Master Sword.**

Once made for and wielded by the Goddess Hylia herself. Later on, both rumored and known to be at the side of every great Hero in the history of the land.

Now it stood here, secured in it´s stone pedestal, that showed the sign of The Golden Three, the goddesses of the old ages, the creators of this world. 

Link didn´t want to be a _hero_. He wanted to help yes, but in his own way! Wanted to protect his people, the ones he loved and cared for! Without being part of legend old, were all those who had fought for this land, had their _names_ forgotten long ago. Solely being known as **Hero**. He knew those legends...

What good was it, to give your life and do glorious deeds, if people don´t even bother writing down your name, only your title? When all about they sang and rymed was _what_ was done, not _who_ had done it? Everyone could come and claim that for themself. Everyone could picture themself as the _Hero_ and overcome their own obsticals of life.  
That was what legends were for, right? To give examples. 

And of course, also Link had always tried to live by them himself. Tryed to be a good person, to give his best at any time, to aid others. To be strong and have faith.

The young man clenched his fists. He didn´t want to be an example. A blank slate. He wanted to be someone in his life, wanted to be himself, who went his own way! Not a legendary nobody for future tales, told to children.   
To be known by those who mattered to him, to be loved and recognised was enough for him. That, and his freedom.

If there was any chance the Sword That Seals The Darkness would choose him...   
It would mean he was chained to a whole different burden.  
Like anyone else he knew the words, that the prophecy foretold.

To protect the kingdom as a knight was one thing, having to possibly save the whole **world** from evil was another. One he couldn´t possibly handle!

For the second time in his life, he wanted to run. Run away, from this feeling of helplessness.

WHY ?

Link gasped. What was that voice?   
He looked up - and was startled as he saw he was suddenly alone.   
Not even the giant Deku-Tree was there anymore. Just him, a gentle, calm forest around him, and the sword, standing there. The light around him felt brighter, a little colder however, as if it wasn´t coming from the sun.  
Yet the brightness wasn´t hurting his eyes, as he looked around.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO RUN AWAY ?

„I... Who is this?“ His gaze landed on the only thing here with him, that wasn´t a plant or a rock.  
„Is that... you?“ Link didn´t understand, warily narrowing his eyes.

PLEASE, DO NOT RUN AWAY FROM ME !

Link stared at the sword. What was happening?

PLEASE, I HAVE WAITED SO LONG FOR YOU TO FIND ME AGAIN !

The young Hylian felt hot and cold shudders running down his back. Maybe he had managed to simply pass out, and was actually lying in the grass, in front of everyone right now. Yeah, great thing for a soldier to do. Just loosing consciousness in front of your king, whenever you get stressed out too much, realy paints a solid picture of one.

He swallowed hard. „You know me?“

OF COURSE ! I WAS CREATED FOR YOU !

„You... What now?“

THE GODESS HYLIA ONCE HAD ME MADE, IN ORDER TO HELP HER FIGHT AGAINST THE GREATE EVIL. THEN SHE TOLD ME TO WAIT AND THEN SERVE HER KNIGHT . AND YOU CAME AND COMPLETED ME . YOU BECAME MY MASTER AND I AM YOUR SWORD . I AIDED YOU TO FIGHT BACK THE GREATE EVIL THROUOUGHT TIMES AND TIME AGAIN . 

„You did. Mhm... Yeah, well I don´t remember that, so... you could be telling whatever.“, Link said suspiciously. Maybe if he recognised all this as a dream, he would wake up.  
The blade in front of him glittered and shimmered in the bright light, and it was as if he felt it chuckeling.

YOU DO NOT REMEMBER. YOU NEVER REMEMBER, FOR YOUR SOUL IS THE SAME BUT NEVER ALIKE . THEREFORE I AM HAPPY TO MEET YOU AGAIN AND GETTING TO KNOW YOU ANEW .

Link frowned, his eyes widening in terrified realisation as he held up his arms in a defensive manner.   
„Wait! No, no, no! I am **not** going to draw you from that stone! I don´t want to!“

There was a long silent pause after he had said that. The glittering shimmer dulling noticable.

THE FACT THAT WE MEET EACH OTHER AGAIN, MEANS THERE IS DARKNESS LURKING UPON THE HORIZON . LINK, I BEG OF YOU ! LET ME AID YOU ONCE AGAIN !

Link knew very well about that. It was the reason this ceremony was held every year, so there would be someone who would stand up and fight, once the prophecy came to life. He knew about the princess, and the devine powers she held, passed down from generations, far back as to the Godess Hylia herself, if legend was to believed. But why now? Why him?

„Do you know what that means?“, he said with a raised voice, somewhere between angry and afraid.  
„It means the prophecy happens **now**! This darkness you´re speaking about, is coming upon _us_. My family, my friends, the princess and all the people out there of _this_ generation!“

IT IS NEITHER FOR ME, THAN FOR YOU, NOR FOR ANYBODY ELSE TO CHANGE THAT . THINGS THAT ARE ABOUT TO HAPPEN, WILL HAPPEN, IF WE WANT IT OR NOT .

Link knew those words... They stung painfully in his innerts, made his eyes burn and his chest tighten up.

„Is there... no other way?“, he wispered, looking down at the Triforce symbol on the stone, as if he was asking directly towards the gods. Of course _they_ wouldn´t answer.   
They hadn´t for a long time...

Another pause, and Link had the feeling he could sense a certain sadness, coming from the sword.

I AM AFRAID, NO . NOT IF YOU WANT TO PROTECT YOUR KIN .

And again, that was what he wanted, right? Help, protect. But not as a _Hero_. As Link! Just Link...

„... How do you know my name?“, he asked quietly as he had it noticed before.

IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN YOUR NAME. _SHE_ ONCE GAVE IT TO YOU. TO LINK THE WORLDS TOGETHER . IT WAS A GIFT, TO GET RECOGNITION FROM ALL THOSE IN DOUBT OR IN NEED . A NAME AND A SWORD TO PROVE YOU ARE THE ONE CHOSEN BY THE GODS .

The young man snorted. Yeah nice. Too bad people were giving shit about names, in their storys if they didn´t sit well with some lackluster historian, apparently.

BUT... IT WAS ALSO A BURDEN AS THE GREATE EVIL, THE DARKNESS, THE DEMISE ONCE CURSED YOUR NAME AND WITH IT YOUR SOUL, TO BE HIS OPPONENT WHENEVER THEY EMERGE FROM THE DEPTH OF ETERNITY, TO TAKE REVENGE, UNTIL ONE TIME THEY MIGHT DEFEAT YOU, AS YOU HAVE DEFEATED THEM SO MANY TIMES NOW .

The voice sounded sad again, the blade darkening slightly.  
So he was cursed...? Somehow he felt an inkling he should have known. It seemed there realy was no other way then. Otherwise he would doom them all...  
„What if I fail?“, the darkblonde asked, in a rather dry tone, the realisation, that all this wasn´t a dream and that his future was already written in the past, sinking in more and more.

YOU NEVER HAVE. AND I WILL BE THERE, TO MAKE SURE YOU NEVER WILL !

Slowly the young man stepped forward, rasing his left hand towards the blue handle, that lustered purple in the bright light. His smile was sad, his eyes tired now, as if someone who had lived a thousand lifes, knew there was no place to lay down.

„I just want to protect the ones I love. If I _have_ to be a _Hero_ for that... If that really is my curse, my burden... Then I guess, so be it.“

His fingeres grabbed around the greenish binding that adorned the handle, a familiar feeling tingling in his hand as he started to pull.

The light around him brightened even more, until everything turned white.

I AM SORRY, MASTER . YOU HAVE MET WITH A TERRIBLE FATE, HAVEN´T YOU?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way: Disclaimer
> 
> I have not played through all of Breath Of The Wild yet.  
> I got down from the Plateau, fought Vah Ruta and fell in love with Sidon.  
> There was some Impa and some Tech Lab, but otherwise I was trying to ride deers and catch horses. u_Û
> 
> But this is a fanfiction, so I can do this in any way, shape or form. XD 
> 
> It´s just so nobdy get´s confused by how I handle certain things. ^-^/


	4. He who fought

The sun was already setting again, as Link had finished his story. Honestly he wasn´t able to remember much at the moment, but this time in his life had burnt itself into the depth of his mind. It saddened him, that even though he could tell this far, what was before and after was all but a blur, a thick fog inside his mind.

Not even the name of the young Sheikah man, he thought to have some sort of strong connection to, would come to him. Picturing his face had given him some comfort from time to time, as he had wandered around the plateau, then the near areas around it, taking on the challenges of shrines and survival.

Everytime he looked at the Slate, he felt his name lingering around the back of his head, felt like he could almost taste the syllables.

The King, as a ghost, had explained to him why he was still here, a hundred years out of his time, how he was gravely wounded and brought to the Shrine to heal.

The memory loss was unexpected, but they would come back to him in time.  
So he was told. And so he hoped, taking it as a good sign to at least be able to remember who he was. Or better, who he was supposed to be.

But not to be able to remember this mans name, it felt so wrong. Like as if he should know. Always, at all times!

Sometimes there were other faces before his inner eyes, and he felt great cammeradery towards them and deep connections. But none of them were as clear as the one Sheikah with his ruby eyes and white-blonde hair.

The Lynels eyes rested upon the young Hylian, who poked around in the fire with a stick, his expression calm and attentive.

"So they call you a Hero for you truly are one. The one chosen by the Godess and the sword. I heard storys about that legend.", Aslan said and Link looked up to him.

"Who hasn't? Altough it seems funny to me, that even Lynels would share something like it. Most are under the impression your kin is sided with the bad guys.", he answered with a wry smile.

The White-Maned crossed his arms, now looking into the flames with a rather stern face.  
"It is true that my folk is easily impressed by those who seem stronger than us, for we hold ourselfs high in regards of the foodchain. It is rare for us to accept anyone above us, an alpha if you want. But to some, the idea of being ruthless and without law, because some dark higher being allowes it, is tastefull."

"Is it tastefull to you?"

"No. I am my own master. I stand true to the nature of my being. There is nothing anyone could offer me to change that." Aslan truthfully said, with some pride underneath his words as his eyes met up with Links again.

"How did ya hear about the legend?", he asked, swiping through the Slate and letting some fruit appear. The Lynel didn't seem to care for that magic trick.

Instead he looked back up to the Plateau. "From an old man, who lived up there.“

Link stopped peeling bananas.

"An old man? With a long white beard, dressed in a hooded cloack? Living in an old wooden hut?", he asked, blue eyes widening slightly.

The tall one nodded. "Yes. It seems you have met him as well. It has been quite some time since I last did. I was still young then...  
So was my friend."

Link noted how the others mood slightly shifted as he spoke the last sentence.  
He looked at him for a moment, the other still looking up, now with a look on his face Link couldn't sort. Sad somehow. But also longing and regretfull.

He sliced the five banans into the pot and got to some apples next.

"So... you and your friend both knew the old man?"

„We did. It was actually my friend who ran into him first and later introduced me as well. He was the one who gave us names. He also taught us to read and-„ Suddenly Aslan stopped his sentence, his eyes widening and his expression turning into shock as his eyes were pinned up the steep cliff.

„What is it- HEY!“ Link was up on his boots as the Lynel jolted up, trying to get on his feet.  
„No, no, no, what are you doing?! You can´t get up yet!“, he tried to convince the taller, his hands raised as to calm him down, like he would with a horse. Of course the Lynel gave nothing about that gesture.

„My books! My books are still up there, I have to get them back!“, Aslan got out through clenched teeth, feeling the pain stinging through his body. Even with the healing potion, the broken leg was still not back to normal yet, his hooves aching underneith his weight and the dislocated hindleg, not quite answering his call to movement at all. The Hylian couldn´t help but to lean against the massive body with all his own weight to somewhat stabilize the wounded one.  
„Hey, calm down will ya? You´re hurtin´ yourself! Take it easy!“ He tried to convince him. But instead of calming down, he sternly started moving, wobbling forward with heavy breaths.  
„Are you crazy! Get back down this instant!“ His voice was almost a shreek as he had to wittness how the other dragged his hindleg over the ground, reaching the nearby tree and holding onto it.

„I need the books back! I have to get back up there, I can not leave them with **him**!“  
„Allright, allright, I´ll get ya your books back, just calm down already, for Hylias sake!“ Link nearly screamed back, totally in distress about this situation! He didn´t risk his life and spent his time nursing a **Lynel** back to health, only for him to ruin himself now over some **books**!

Fortunatly that seemed to reach the other, as he now finally looked down to him. Damn he was so gigantic!  
„You.. will?“, Aslan asked, much more placid than before. Link noticed how Aslans arms shivered under the stress of holding his body up against the tree.  
„Yeah. Sure. It´s just some books right? They should be easy enough to sneak out. Your _crockery_ would be a problem, so no sweat about some paper, okay?“

The White-Maned stared at him with widened eyes.  
„You would really go up the Plateau and go against the Red-Maned Lynel in order to retrieve my books?“

Link nodded, smiling gently.  
„I can at least try, right? Now... while you´re standing here, let´s see if we´re able to get your leg back located all right?“ As he suggested this, he already carefully made his way to the hindleg in question.  
„Now... hold on to that tree as good as you can. I will lift up your leg now, okay?“

The crimson eyes still looked at him with some sort of overwhelmed disbelieve, but nodded as he realised what the smaller was about to do.  
„Have you done this before?“, he asked, yet a little unsure about this, narrowing his eyebrows. Or the part on the lion face that would be them.

Thoroughly, Link touched along the hip to feel were the joints are, then slid both hands down the leg while carefully lifting it up.  
„Uuuhm... yes!“ The young mans voice was a little higher than usual. „It´s just... ya know... been a while.“  
Now he and Aslan looked at each other for an awkward little moment, before the latter turned his head towards the tree, bracing himself.  
„All right, I am ready.“, he said, simply accepting his fate, that this was probably his only chance to get his leg fixed.

Link swallowed.  
„Allright. Just... this might hurt a lot... whatever you do,  
Do.  
Not.  
Kick me! Ya heard me? Getting kicked by a normal horse is fatal enough, getting one from you might kill me!“

„Do not worry. I will control myself.“

„Allright, then. You trust me, I´ll trust you.“ And with that, the young Hylian placed his hands on the right places of the muscular hindleg and got into postition. One swift move and the joint would just pop right back where it belongs.

„Aaand   
3  
2  
1!“

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The water of the creek murmured so nicely and piecefully. The leaves bobed around in the gentle warm breeze, and the sun was painting dancing shadows through them.  
Link tried to concentrate on all of this, as he laid on the ground next to the creek, pulling his hand out of the water and placing the wet, cool cloth on his stomach.

He breathed in sharply as it touched the dark red circle, just underneath his ripcage. It already started to get more on the blue side, and by morning it surely would be a nice dark purple.

His tortured brain, in an attempt to be funny, told him that he imagined something else by a Lynels kiss. Turned out it was just as unpleasant as from a regular horse.

Defeated, he placed his arm over his face, letting out a small painfilled moan.

The figure sitting back by the fireplace looked over towards him, his ears laid flat and his eyes giving an apologetic look.   
„I am deeply sorry for this to have happened.“ Aslan mumbled, seemingly embarresed by the fact, that dispite his proud announcement and his own conviction about his self controll, he had simply kicked out at Link, as the pain had bitten into his leg with a crunchy sound.

At least it had worked. It still hurt, but he was at least somewhat able to stand up. Of course for now he was strictly doing what Link had told him, laying back down and resting again.  
Even his offering to aid the other in his misery were backed away.

„Nh, ya know... It´s allright.... I mean, I´m not dead, right? Didn´t even break a rib... haha-ah!“ His voice was a little weak, and laughing hurt like hell! And right before, he was barely able to not throw up and right now, he wasn´t too sure if he would be able eat anything else today.   
Or get up from this place next to the nicely cold water, for that matter.

And wasn´t there another possible encounter with a Lynel?  
Maybe he should just put his last strength into turning around, plunging his head into the hand deep water.

He sighed.  
But not even the sweet releave of death would be granted to him, would it?

But on the other end, who would have thought, that one day a Lynel would be apollogising for almost killing him?

oooOOOoooOOOooo

At some point in time, Link had managed to get back to his blanket and so he woke up there the next morning. The sweet smell of honey coated fruit made his mouth water since he realy wasn´t able to eat anything anymore yesterday.

He moved his arms to get up on his ellbows, moaning in pain from his whole lower torso area.  
„Do you require assistance?“, he heard the deep voice of the other.  
But all he did was a waving motion with his hand.  
„Nah, I´m fine. I just ... need to roll over and... damn.. get myself up...“, the young man answered with some gasping and a strained look on his face as he slowly turned to his side in order to push himself up.

There was a sigh and then some rustling as the Lynel came over to him, sitting down to his side. Big hands then gave him some gentle uplift and helped him to lean against the tree trunk behind.  
„How come, that you so selflessly help others, yet you do not ask for anything in return?“ Aslans voice was gentle, yet stern. It reminded him of someone... The tall, slim figure of a Sheikah woman came shortly to his mind, but was gone again almost immediatly, much to his displease.

„If I´m not even able to get myself up, how should I fight the greate evil?“, Link asked back, flinching as he adjusted himself in his sitting position. There were the fruit skewers right in front of him.  
„That is a very dangerous way to think. There is no strength in solitude.“, the White-Maned said, his eyebrow part drawn together.  
Meanwhile, the young Hylian struggled to get his fingers towards the plate.  
„Says a Lynel, whom are very – chh - territorial and like to be hostile against nearly every other living creature, tresspassing said territory - nnh!“

Aslan rewarded that answer with a grumble and a snort, raching out himself to shove the plate next to Link, who then quickly grabbed one of the skewers and dug in.

„Still, I took the liberty to create something that might aid you against the Lynel on top of the Plateau.“ He reached over and grabbed something, Link watching him with greate interest and full cheeks, looking like a hamster.

„What ish it?“, he asked, chewing the sweet honeycoated piece of banana, while inspecting the thing in Aslans hands.  
It looked like a mask, portraying a lion. Or a Lynel more specificly, since it had horns. It wasn´t the most artsy thing Link had ever seen, yet it wasn´t bad at all. It just had this vibe of... a childrens toy somehow with it´s button eyes and big stitches. It was mainly made from carved wood, plant strings, fur and obviously some of Aslans own hair.  
The latter handed it over to him. „Well, for the lack of a better term, it is a Lynel-Mask. Not the peak of art, but it will do it´s job.“  
Blue eyes mustered the handywork of the other very skeptical. „And this is to help me, how exactly?“

„It will disguise you.“, Aslan said in a very calm and confident voice, that made Link wonder if the kitty-horse realy knew what the word ´disguise´ actually meant.

„Dis..guise me... right...“  
„As long as you are near enough to him.“

His eyes widened as he stared at the other. „As long as I – what now?“ There was a fine pinch of panic in his voice. But the Lynel only looked back at him, his face barely showing any expression at all as he said in a dry but honest voice:

„Link, right now I can barely make out what is your eyes and what is your mouth. Your face is a bright blurr, for we Lynels are highly farsighted. It gives us greate advantages for working with the bow, I could almost see a mouse, dancing on the rooftop of Hyrule caslte from up the Greate Plateau, but place a bear right in front of me, I would wonder how this bolder could move around.“

The blonde man blinked as he tried to process this information.  
„Sooo... when I wear this mask...“  
„He will think of you as a foal and therefore not harm you.“  
„What, realy?“  
„It is an unwritten rule, not to harm the young ones. Otherwise our species would have not lasted very long.“

Yeah, he could see reason in this.

„Just make sure to wait until he has his back on you again to move away, and then immediatly seek out a hiding spot. As soon as you are more than three meters away, he will start to see that you are not one of us. Same goes for the case if he sees you first from afar. We are halfway blind, but not stupid.“

He nodded to all this, looking at the mask.  
„I´ll try to not let him notice me in the first place. But thank you very much!“  
He smiled up at him and Aslan nodded. 

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

„Are you sure you want to do this today?“, the White-Maned said in a somewhat worried voice, that Link admired a little.

He stood in front of his luggage, getting his clothes in place and everything ready that he wanted to take with him.   
„Yeah.. gotta be sneaky anyway so the wound won´t hinder me all that much. I´ll do this nice and slow. I have to start getting my pace up a little, I have places to be actually.“, Link answered.

He looked at his rifle. Should he take it? No. There were only five bullets for it and he had a feeling he would need those at a later time much more than now.

„Again,“ Aslan started, „you do not have to do this. You already helped me this much.“ But he was cut off as a hand was placed at his shoulder. Even while the Lynel was sitting down, this was a somewhat awkward task to do for Link. And his hand seemed so small on this massive body.   
„I said I´d do it, therefore I´m doin´ it, allright? Also those books are important to you, ain´t they? So stay put, keep watch of my stuff and wait until I´m back.“ Link stepped back a few steps and already activated the slate. Aslan snorted, watching the mushy outlines of the smaller body with concern.

„Stay save.“, he said, as he saw the figure being surrounded by blue light and getting even more mushy, yet he noticed the other waving towards him, before he was gone completly.

The crimson eyes looked up once more, towards the edge of the cliffs.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Link took a deep breath as he arrived at the Oman Au Shrine. He turned towards the northern edge of the Plateau and looked down. He could make out the street down below and followed it until his eyes met the little forest. A consistant smoke pillar some way further west pin pointed his and Aslans campfire. With that he could somewhat make out the location were the Lynels must have fought, resulting in Aslan getting tossed off the edge. It wasn´t too far, and Link wondered how he hadn´t streight up run into the White-Maned first thing after coming out of the Shrine of Resurrection. But on the other hand, he _was_ following only the directions of the old man, back then. Maybe that was why his majesty was very specific with his explanations of where to go. He never even had to realy run around through the forest in the first place.

Well, up until now that was.  
He sighed. Maybe he was more a fool than anything else, yet alone a hero. But all that Shrine training should pay off some time right? He had spent long enough with those, all around the Greate Plateau and near this area.  
Therefore the blonde tried to take this as his final trial, before finally heading onward on his journey. 

A last run trough his gear, a somewhat allright knights blade and a wooden shield – just to make sure about the shock arrows – and of course the Slate, tightly hooked to his hip.  
If in doubt, throw a bomb!

The Lynel mask was tied to his other hip, ready to grip if needed, though he highly hoped that wouldn´t be the case. And with that, he went for the forest ahead.

Aslan had given him some sort of directions and a discription of the place. A little clearing, not too far from the cliffside. And truly, soon Link found the first markings of Lynel activity. Shock arrows, sticking to a bunch of trees around the location. Some he took with him, others he left where they were, being too much of a dangerous, effort to collect. Then he found the first hoove prints on the ground, too massive to be from a regular horse. How those would come up here was beyond him, but since the Red-Maned managed to do it and seemingly Asland and this friend of his, there had to be a passage somewhere.

A light taping on the slate, then two more and a little flask appeared in his hand. Glad about the Blue Nightshade he had found those days ago, he drank the elixir and felt how his muscles calmed along with his breathing, making his very movement nearly soundless.  
There it was, just as he looked around some boulders, big enough to hide behind.  
Almost opposite of him, there was a cave, appearing to be big enough to comfortably house a Lynel. A little bright spot inside made him wonder.

The Hylian swallowed. So far he hadn´t seen this other fella around, so hopefully he wasn´t inside, taking a nap or something. Carefully he sneaked onward, looking around after every step, his hearing concentrated on every single noise around him, seperating them inside his head to filter out danger immediatly.

He pressed his body against the stone next to the entrance. He felt his belly hurt from the crouching since there was an area as big as his hand, all dark purple, almost black at some spots. The herbal ointment Aslan had made him, helping wonders yet doing this surely wasn´t the best for him now.

Another deep breath and he tilted his body to the side, peeking inside the cave. To his surprise the brightness he´d seen before, turned out to be a lit oillamp, further back. It was enough to illuminate the place quite nicely, showing Link most of the interior.

It had the space of around four stable boxes, so quite enough room for a single Lynel. There were pillows and blankets and furs in one corner, placed upon a big pile of hay and dried moss. No Lynel on it. Nor anywhere else in here, so the Hylian flit inside quickly, still staying close to the wall.

The oillamp stood on a little table simple in built, right next to the haybed, and on the opposite side there was... A bookshelf! Neither was it big, nor very full of books. Mostly jars with dried herbs stood in it, but it also housed the two books, Aslan was so desperate about. One was bound in red dyed leather, the other one in blue. The title on the backs read ´A Travelers Tale´ and the distinctions Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Link looked up, outside the cave. Nothing. He took the books from the shelf and tapped on the Slate only for it to reject storing them. „What, why? Damn you!“, he muttered and looked around. Then he simply grabbed the blanket – Aslans blanket anyways, and used it as a sack. For good messure he also took the three more fancier looking pillows inside and then made a knot as good as possible with the fabrik.

He looked up again – and froze. From between the trees and bushes opposite from the entrance, he appeared. A massive dark brown, almost black body, a grim face framed by a firey red mane!  
Immediatly Link took cover behind the big wooden chest that stood next to the other wall and peaked around. Luckily he hadn´t been seen, but the fact that this moster was coming over this way made his heart beat faster and his anyway hurting stomach tighten up.

´No, no, no, shit, shit, shit!´

As the Red-Maned Lynel entered the cave, Link duck even more behind the chest, his back pressed against it, hoping that they realy all were that farsighted! Together with the dim light in the cave it might do the trick.

The Hylian froze in place, as suddenly he heard the chest squeeking as it was opened. His heart was racing and his fingers dug deep into the fabrik he held tight!  
´This is it!´, he thought, as the lid was shut down loudly.

He felt a cold gaze, knowing this tingle of someone looking directly at him very vell. Very, very slowly he turned his head over his shoulder and felt a shiver down his spine. The dark red eyes layed directly on him!! He never had felt so terrified in his life! He couldn´t even reach the mask properly in this possition! Or grab his sword, or – or anything! The other would just simply smash his head in with one kick from his giant hooves, and then Game Over!

Instead though, the wild face turned away from him, as the whole body was moved towards the entrance again and Link heard the deep growling voice saying something he couldn´t understand as it was just growls and snorts to him. But he had a feeling it was something very respectless against Aslans interior design.

Link felt like passing out. The other hadn´t seen him! Truly hadn´t seen him! He looked out over the rim of the wooden chest and rubbed over his face. The big guy had gotten himself some fruit from the chest and was now sitting down at the fireplace to prepare something that surely had been a deer at some point before it was slaughtered. Maybe the blood smell was also what saved him!

At least his back was towards the entrance, so the young man took some moments to calm down again and then take his pack and sneaking up and out behind him.  
He pressed himself against the outer wall again, carefully stepping to the side to simply go around the rock formation that made up the place. Not once he let his eyes from the giant fella and finally, yes finally he reached the first row of trees!

´Yes! Hylia above, yes! Thank all the heavens!´

**crack**

His eyes widened and he slowly moved his head down to the stick that surely was placed there by all the malice in the world! What was this? A bad written story?

As soon as there was movement to be heared behind him, coming from the fireplace he quickly jumped to the side into the bushes. He heard loud growling, heavy steps coming closer and closer! Between the leaves he sah the other coming right at his way! „Oh come on!“, he wispered, panic coming back to him.

The giant creature towered right above him, his face angry, teeth showing. Link could hear him snarling something and it sounded dangerous and warning. Then the enourmous crusher was slowly being raised into the air, ready to just smash down on the bushes, the Hylian was hiding in!

With nothing else left, Links hand moved to his side and his body sprang out of cover!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Lynel stopped in his motion, the fierce eyes staring into his masked face. Another angry snarl and Link ducked down a little. That made the taller let down his weapon, still looking at him, inspecting him up and down. 

„I-I´m sorry for sneaking around!“, the young man said, trying to lift his voice a bit to appear younger. The Red-Maned raised an eyebrow, snorting.   
„This is no place for you! Go back were you came from and stay away from my territory, child! I have no fondness for the likes of you, so you better make way, before I start forgetting the rules, understood?“

Link swallowed. „U-understood! I won´t come here again! I promise!“  
Was this realy working? Unbelivable!

Again the other made a grumpy noise and turned away, obviously going back to the fireplace.  
The smaller looked after him, backing up slowly, towards another clearing, getting near to the edge of the Plateau.  
´Almost now !´, he thought as he started to walk backwards a little faster. But he saw the other stop in his track, the ears flipping backwards. Then slowly the Lynel turned around, a confused look on his face.  
Why was this kid talking in the bipedal language to him?

Their eyes met as they were about 10 meters away from each other. And by the angrily gritted teeth the other started to show, Link was absolutely sure that he could see him nice and clearly _now_!  
So he turned around and started running for the cliff, the Red-Maned Lynel charging after him. 

Branches got crushed from the trunks, the ground was shaking from the massive body trampeling over it. Right as the young Hylian heard the first shock arrow hissing through the air, he had made it to the edge of the cliff and just jumped over it. 

He held on tight as he opened up the paraglider, slowing down his fall apruptly! There was another arrow whisteling by close to him, and a very angry roar thundered above him. He prayed for the arrows to not hit him as yet another came by way to close!

But then another roar made sound, coming from beneith him. As Link looked down, he saw a spark in the sunlight as an arrow flew up targeted past him.  
The Red-Maned sprung back as he saw the projectile sizzle up to him, but it was too quick and hit him anyway, slicing up the right side of his face. Painfully and even more angry he roared, but the wound made it impossible for him to take another shot at the little bipedal intruder!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As Link finally had save ground underneith his feet again, he henched over, holding his belly where the bruised muscles furiously screamed at him! Next to him, he noted Aslan, walking up to his side.

„Are you unharmed?“, he asked rather concerned, which made Link smile a little.

„No worries, I´m fine... the only Lynel-wound is still yours.“, he answered.

The White-Maned looked to the side, still ashamed by what had happened yesterday.  
„I borrowed your bow, as I noticed what was happening.“, the big guy then noted, changing the subject and holding out the bow. „I hope you don´t mind.“

With a slight yet painfull laugh, the Hylian took the liberty to support himself at Aslans side. „Absolutely not. Quite the opposite in fact, thanks for covering me! But... could you help me get back to the camp? I desperatly wanna sit down, ´cause my legs are getting all wobbly now, and all of this-“, he made a hand movement that covered all of his torso and belly. „- hurts like hell!“

And truly, now that the stress and adrenalin was slowly fading away, Link felt himself getting very tired and weak on the knees. 

So they slowly made their way back to the camp, Aslan letting the smaller one hold on to his horsepart and also lending a hand, so Link could sit down an lean against the tree trunk again after getting off his _stolen goods_.

As he sat there, gently rubbing the healing cream around his bruised body, enjoying the nice cooling effect it had, Aslan was kind of excitingly undoing the knot in the blanket, recognising it as his own.

„You even brought my favourite pillows...“, he mumbled before very slowly and carefully, as if they might turn to dust right in front of him, he picked up the two books, looking them up and over, while holding them far enough away to actually see something.

Link chuckled soundless to this picture, looking over to the Lynel-Mask that he had placed beside him. „I still can´t belive this worked... But I am glad about it!“, he said. „Thank you for it.“

The lion ears twitched, and with wide eyes the other was looking at him. „Thank me? _I_ am the one who has to thank _you_! You brought back the most important items in my life! And even some more! You truly deserve the title of a Hero!“

But the young man only waved it away. „Oh no, no. This was no Hero quest. This was something I did for a friend!“, he said, smiling widely at him, which made the Lynel look at him quite puzzled.

„A friend, you say?“ The question was almost wispered.  
„´Course! Why not?“  
„I... It is quite some time since I last had a friend... I am honoured you see of me as one!“, the crimson eyed said, gently laying his head to the side. Then he took a deep breath and got on his legs again, still carefull not to put too much weight on the previously broken one, that already was healing up quite nicely due to the potion.   
„I will borrow your bow once more and get us some food! Let us feast tonight!“, he announced quite proudly and headed towards the forest, even if a little limping.

Link smiled after him, feeling rather happy about how things had turned out.  
Who else had the chance to befriend a Lynel?

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The fire was lit nicely, thanks to the White-Maned being able to breath it and the deer, the other had managed to hunt down, was nicely roasted.

For some time, there was nothing but voracious silence, until Link noticed the others eyes on him.  
„What is it?“, he asked in between bites.

„My wounds are healing. I am able to hunt and take care of myself. You got back some of my belongings to me. I am no longer any hinderance to your journey. I simply wondered how you are going on now?“ The question was filled with honest but calm interest. Shortly Link wondered if he´d ever manage to be as calm as this guy. Technically he was older than him by around 50 years and what not, but that meant nothing, since only 17 of those years were truly lived. His body and mind were still a young one. Well maybe he had aged himself quite a bit in terms of stress and wounds and the gruesome reality of war...

Oh, and dying once!

Yup, never to forget about that part!

Being **resurrected** and all, in the Shrine of **Resurrection**!

To the question he sighed and let his food sink down for a moment, looking into the fire, smiling but with a wry and tired tone to his voice.  
„Back to were I left off I guess... I visited all those Sheikah-Shrines around, faced and succeeded their trials... I think it is the best place for me now to... even know where to go.“

„And where is this?“ Aslan asked, feeling how the others task weighed heavy on him.

„West Necluda. Dueling Peaks Stable for a start... and then I´ll go back to Fort Hateno and see what I´ll find there... Maybe some more answers. Or more questions.“ If only he could remember more! He kinda knew what happened, but it was more a feeling than anything else...  
What he knew for sure was, that this was the place he had fallen...

„Also I need my sword back. This thing-“, he nodded towars the rifle, that stood with his pack rather ignored. „-isn´t much of a help at the moment. It was one of the few things left at the Shrine of Resurrection that actually belong to me but... I don´t feel confident using it, plus I only have 5 bullets. I don´t wanna waste them. And most of the weapons I find around are old and used up... So I should look for clues on were to find _my_ sword.“

„The Master Sword.“, Aslan said with a nod. „Since it is the one who awoke you to your task, it surely would be of greate help on your further task. And you say, you may find something at Fort Hateno?“ He had a vague idea of where this was, mostly from the map the old man had once drawn for him and his friend back when they were kids... he shook his head, focusing back on the young man on the other side of the fire.

„Yes. At least I hope so. There is only a feeling... like the memory of a dream in my head that I should go there... that this is the place were everthing went down all thos years back.“ Link had layed down his food completely, rubbing the side of his face with one hand. He would lie if he´d say he wasn´t affraid to go there. But he had way too much delay already! A true wonder Zeldas power hadn´t burnt out weeks ago.

„Truth is... I´m terrified to go there!“, he mumbled, but the Lynel had no problems hearing him. Consciously or not, the big one made a gentle sound, snuffing out of his noise the way big cats greeted each other or simply saying ´hey´.

The young man couldn´t help but smile to this sentiment even though his eyes were still filled with a sad tiredness.  
„I was chosen to be the Hero of this land. The protector of the Princess, her assigned knight. I had the Master Sword in my hands and an oath to fullfill...“ He took another deep breath.  
„But I failed. I wasn´t strong enough and I was wounded. I died back then! They brought me to this Shrine up there and then... all this happened...“ A glance towards the direction of the malice surrounded castle. Not to be seen with the forest being in the way, yet clearly known what he meant.

„You know, maybe I am no Hero at all...“

Aslan frowned at how distant Links voice sounded.

„When they needed me the most... it was as if I´d ran away...“ The blue eyes looked up at him, the other wasn´t much able to truly see him, yet he felt it himself how lost the other felt right now.

„There is a saying in one of my books.“, The Lynel said, looking him in the eyes.

_„He who fought and ran away, lived to fight another day.“_


	5. Who knows?

The next morning, shortly after breakfast, Link was finally reorganizing his pack into the slate. Now he had full overfew of what he had and how many of it.  
It had took him a while to fully figure out how the Slate was working and what he could do with it. The Runes he aquired from the Plateau-Shrines where one helpfull feature, so was the storing.  
But there were also still parts he had no access to, which bothered him a little...  
Maybe it wasn´t important.

He looked up to the sky. The sun had decided to take a break today, thick, dark clouds looming heavy over the land. According to Aslan, it wouldn´t be raining for at least until the evening. How he was so sure of this, Link had no idea. He had said something about the shape of the clouds, the wind and the smell of the air. Some day he needed to teach Link how to see these things too. It would come in quite handy on his journey.

Speaking of the big kitty-horse, Link had noted how quiet the tall fella was this whole morning. He was roaming around, tending to the fire or watching him do his sortings. Sometimes he looked like he wanted to say something, but struggled. Like right now, when their eyes met and he wiggled his ears around somewhat nervously.

Link smiled and placed his hands on his hips. „Allright, what is it? You´re like this the whole mornin´! If there´s anythin´ you wanna say, you can just do it.“

The Lynel seemed a bit startled by this announcement, his eyes turning to the side.  
„No, I...“, his nostrills twitched. „It is nothing I should ask you about. You have allready done enough for me, without me having anything to return to you.“, he said in a low voice, to wich Link frowned. He came over, crossed his arms and with also crossed legs sitting down next to him.

„Come on! If it´s botherin´ you so much you´re restless for hours, it seems to be important! You can always ask me if you need somethin´. That´s what friends are for! And I already established as much!“

Aslans big head turned towards the Hylian, looking at his blurry face with a frown.  
„It is... quite an embarressing thing to ask you for. I should be doing this myself.“  
„But it seems somethin´ is holding you from it. So spill it already!“ The smaller nudged at the horse side.

Another long look from one, a wide cheery smile from the other. Then Aslan sighed.  
„I was wondering... If you may have the time to keep an eye open for my friend. We... parted a long time ago, in very bad circumstances. I am afraid, I wouldn´t be welcome to show my face.“

The blonde blinket to that. „You want me to search for your friend?“, he asked, somewhat baffled.  
„Not search. Only to keep an eye open. Maybe you run into each other by chance or something like that...“  
Link hummed to this. „And where would I maybe run into your friend? You know anything about that?“  
„Somewhere in Akkala, I think.“

That wouldn´t be to hard. Link had planned to go there anyway along his journey. Probably even had to. He looked at the map and hummed again. „I think I could do that! I mean... It _is_ a Lynel, we´re talking about yes?“  
Aslan nodded. „Yes.“  
With a big smile on his lips again, Link got up and klicked the Slate to his belt. „Allright then! I´ll look around for your friend! Is there any message you want me to tell?“

Now it was Aslan looking quite baffled at his young bipedal friend, trying to grasp the fact that he was yet again so selflessly willing to help.  
„Err, yes in fact! Something that might help not to get shot actually. ... On the other hand... maybe it will be the sole reason for that to happen...“, he mumbled and the young man gulped. Yes, right, good ol´ Aslan here was the only Lynel to probably not kill him anymore.  
„Well, one can only try right? What is it?“, he asked, trying to sound confident.

„A form of greeting we invented when we were young. A code if you will... One will say:  
_My heart is a lion._ to wich the other shall reply:  
_May its roar echo across the land._ “, he explained.

The other nodded, mumbling the words a few times to remember them. „So if I say the first part... and your friend isn´t responding...“ – „Run.“ Aslan said dryly and Link gulped. „Oh... Thanks, I hate it!“, he said high pitched and felt tempted to ask what had happened back then, but maybe he should keep that for another time.

„Allright. I´ll keep that in mind then.“, Link sighed and tapped the tips of his boots against the floor one after another. „I guess then... it is time for me to head on. Will you be okay?“  
But the taller only shook his head and raised a hand. „I will be fine. Do not worry about me. I will stay around this area until I hear from you again, there should be a place to house me nearby. If you need anything, or if I can be of help to you, you know where to find me. So please feel free to come by at any time... my friend.“ There was a warm smile towards the end and the blonde smiled back, nodding. „Of course! Thank you!“

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aslan had walked with him towards the eastern end of the forest, where a path was leading towards the street, that would bring Link straight towards and through Dueling Peaks. In about tree days he should arrive at the stable located there, according to what the travellers he´d asked had told him. He was glad, to find people around after he had made his decend from the Greate Plateau. He knew not to trust everyone who came along his way, but some kind souls had given him a greate deal of insight about the nearby regions. 

And to put it simple... Link was just so glad and thankfull, that the Calamity didn´t straight up wipe out all of Hyrules inhabitants...

As the narrow street came into view, Link turned towards the White-Maned Lynel and placed a hand on the horseback. „I wish you good luck, Aslan. If I hear about your friend I´ll let you know as soon as possible. In the meantime, be carefull. And ... Maybe try not to kill any people, okay?“

The tall one snorted. „This is not my territory. Which means noone can tresspass it, right? Do not worry. I will concentrate on healing and figuring out a few things.“  
The blonde chuchled. „Well, then. Good bye Aslan. ´Till we meet again!“  
Aslan gently turned his head to the side, bowing it with closed eyes. „Fare well, Link. Take care ouf yourself and stay alive.“

Link was waving while he started to walk. „I´ll try, if I have to!“, he said, laughing a little.

The next time he turned around, the other was a dark spot between some small looking trees. He found it strangely cute that the other was still standing there, looking after him. And since he knew that the Lynel would probably see him now better than ever, he waved again, smiling widely as he identified the dark spot moving as well. Then, with the next few steps Link took, he was over and down a hill, now breaking the line of sight between them.

´Now I can´t turn back, I guess.´, he thought, looking towards the castle which was merely a tiny gray and purple mix of waves and a bad aura. `Zelda. Hold on a little longer, yes? I´m sorry for the delay I...´  
He took a deep breath, now facing the split mountain ahead. „I´m on my way now.“, he said, stepping onward.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Early in the evening, Link had arrived at the Outpost ruins.  
The Guardian remains layed still and to his relief stayed that way, as dark clouds and the fading daylight painted eerie shadows upon them. The first time he came across one of those deathmachenes, his stomach dropped and he broke out in cold sweat. The first _active_ one had made him run in sheer panic, almost throwing up as he had reached a save place.  
Now he had... adjusted to their sight. And trying to avoid the ones that were still able to do harm.

Some old, tattered banners got played around by the wind and by now, Link could already smell the upcoming rain. 

He would have liked to go on a little further, reaching at least the East Post Ruins, only a little further away, but he could see a bunch of Moblins lurking around over in the distance next to an old, long broken carriage. He´d rather place his tent before the weather and nightfall hit, so he decided to rather stay around the dead Guardians and nestle up inside one of the broken down buildings. In one corner there was still a part of the roof left, enough to, together with his tent, would keep him somewhat dry over the night.

So he set up camp, got a fire on and some fish to roast at it.  
The water in the destroyed fountain looked clear and way cleaner than the puddles around. Save to drink, the young man decided, even with the broken down Guardian hanging over it.  
Link tried to ignore the feelings coming up whenever he saw those machines now. Fragments of pictures and sounds had started to emerge from his mind at some point, the smell of heavy rain and mud, sweat and blood. He shivered. He knew what had happened, yet he didn´t remember at the same time. 

„Guess I soon will. Weither I like it or not.“, the Hylian said to his reflection in the water, before dipping his face in to drink and refresh at the same time. 

As he drew his head back he watched the water droplets fall from his hair as he took a deep breath.

_“Feeling lonely already?“_

Link was startled by the voice next to him, paired with a vague reflection, that had suddenly appeared. He jumped back with a gasp but his wide eyes quickly realised, that he was still as alone as before.

What was that? A trick of his mind?  
He looked up at the Guardian remains and the eerie feeling that grew within him made him shiver.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was raining. Just as Aslan had foretold.  
Too bad he had missed the whole **thunderstorm** part of it!  
The fire was long gone, the young man was curled up against the stone wall from inside his tent. He was thankfull for this half a square meter of ``roof´´ above him, that helped imensely to keep him somewhat sheltered, praying it wouldn´t just come down and crush him in an attempt at irony.

Sleep did not come easy that way and when it finally did, it was as troubled as the weather around him. Still, something was able to made its way back up, from a long, long time ago...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

He had realised it at their, what, fourth time training together? The young Sheikah showed the first years some material art combat, so they wouldn´t be helpless, if they were to loose their weapon in a fight. It was a warm summer day, most of the guys had gotten rid of their shirts, the girls trying to get as much hair away from their necks as possible.  
A young Link stood there, breathing heavily as he just had blocked another kick of his opponent, who now carefully watched him, looking for an opportunity for his next move.

„The Master looks so good.“, a girl whispered.  
„I knoooow right? I wish I´d be older…“, another answered.  
Link was anoyed as his ears twitched a bit. They were here to train, not to swoon over someones looks.

„Will you two shut up already?“, one of the guys whispered in a grumpy tone.  
´Exactly!´, Link thought.

„Pff, you´re just jealous.“, the first girl answered in a snide but still hushed tone.  
„Of what?“, another guy asked, just as grumpy as the first.

The young Hylian blocked another punch by the white-blonde Sheikah, who was advising him to move his legs more. He tried. But it was so god damn hot! And the aura of the others not being concentrated made him cranky.  
What **was** there to be jealous of? The olders fighting skills were the only thing Link strove to achieve of his own, but other than that?  
Girls were so weird. They were here to become recruits, soldiers or guards! Not checking out  
guys.

Guys that were two years older, than them 14 year old chickens!

The blue eyes wandered towards his opponents chest.

The muscles there had a thin film of sweat on them, making them shine in a sandy brown colour in the sunlight, moving evenly up and down, as the other breathed in the controlled way of a trained fighter.

What´s so good looking about a sweat soaked dude in the middle of a heatwave day?

A single droplet of said sweat broke free from its nestled place on the Sheikahs jugular notch sliding down his chest, towards his slightly faint yet strong abdominal muscles...

The following punch hit Link so hard, it made the older gasp and run to his side immediately, as the young one was sent to the ground, half a meter away.

„I thought you would block that!“, the Sheikah said in an honest appologetic voice as he helped him back up.

Yeah, he had thought so as well...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A soft, moan of discomfort could be heard from the tent as the inhabitant streched out, his bones making a horrific cracking sound. Link had just woken up and felt like dying imediatly. Almost the whole night, he had sat cowered against the wall, a blanket around him, which was now damp from the night. His neck hurt, his legs were all antsy and heavy and he didn´t want to talk about his back...  
„Thanks... hate it...“, he said in a croaky voice, as he made his way out of the tent on all fours. 

The sun was back, which Link was thankfull for.  
„World! It is I, your glorious hero...“  
Another crack as he got up and bent his back in the other direction, hands on it like an old man.

 _“At least, now you feel just as old as you actually are.“_ Link heard the chuckling voice from his dream. The voice of this dashing man... The voice from yesterday!?

„...Shut up.“, he grumbled. „It´s been ages since I last slept in a bed. A **real** bed, not those straw quaders with a bedsheet over, like at the stables. A real, nice, soft and warm _bed_.“, he said, spreading his blanket and the tent felt over a part of wall to let it dry. Man, even those beds would be nice now... Soon.

 _“Yes, you´re right. _And_ I am not over a hundred years old.“_ The voice cackled.

Link drew his eyebrows together, getting out of his boots and his old shirt, placing both nicely in the sun as well.

Wandering over to the fountain again, his bare feet brushing through the wet grass.

„I dreamed about training, last night.“, the Hylian mumbled.

_“Mhm. Something in perticular?“_

The young mans cheeks became a little red and the feeling of a bunch of butterflys, roaming around his stomach made him all tingly. What an embarressing time that had been for him. But also somewhat... nice. It was a better time... Well, simpler at least.

He pulled the string out of his hair, then got his face in the water again as yesterday and shortly after, dunking in his head as deep as it was possible, scratching through his hair a bit.

As he got up, he saw the other figure siting at the rim of the fountain, legs and arms comfortably crossed. He knew this man. But this... this right now, this was not how it should be.

Link cuped some water with his hands and washed his arms and chest as good as possible. He smiled a little. Maybe, by talking with Aslan about the parts he could remember from his past, something in his mind had opened up. Along with now finally going back to that place...  
If it were memorys like those, he didn´t mind.

The figure was snickering softly.

_“What are you doing?_

Not looking at the other the blonde mumbled - „Washing myself? Man, what I´d give for a nice hot bathtub...“

 _“No, I mean what are you _doing_?“_  
Suddenly red eyes stared into his, a stern look to them, as the rest of the face was covered up by a white scarf. It made Link startle back, blinking and then realising for a second time – He was alone. 

Irritated and taken aback he stared at the water. Had he just been talking to himself - no, to someone who wasn´t there?

This was it... he was finally loosing his Dekunuts.

The blue eyes found the mountains in the near distance he was heading for.  
„Yeah... I better keep going, don´t I?“, he mumbled.

So he packed up his camp, put on his shirt again and made way around the Moblin camp, feeling to fuzzy to put up a fight with them.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Later in the morning, the young man had found a place to make a fire again and finally have some breakfast. He also had layed out his tent to dry properly, since he had packed up in quite a rush earlier. Link had understood rather quickly, that the Slate seemed to store things, in the condition they were at the moment he put them in. Food never went bad, fabric that got in wet, was still wet yet not moldy when he put it back out. So his Warm Doublet also dried in the sun right now. It had held him warm during the night, but right now the old shirt alone was allright. 

He needed some new clothes soon tough. For the past weeks he only had these two outfits, and one was already quite torn apart. It just wouldn´t do all across Hyrule, plus he would like to not look like a vagabound.  
Yet Link felt a little nervous, thinking about entering a village. Since he had come down from the Greate Plateau, he had not done so, since for some reason he was afraid of it. He did not know why, only that it was the case. Also the fact that a lot of the old settlements layed now in ruins had left a bad feeling overall.

He sighed and looked at his breakfast stew, that was still cooking and would need some more time until it was done.  
The young Hylian grabbed inside the little bag he carried, with stuff that the Slate either would not store for some reason, or that he wanted to have by his side.

Out he pulled a wooden flute, a pan flute to be percise. It had coloured markings on each pipe, and a beautifully carved wooden frame around them and some braided blue string on each side, held together with a pearl.

It was placed just beneith his lower lip before he gently blew into it, creating soft notes that he formed into a melody.  
Time and time again had the blonde played this song, knowing who tought it to him, yet not remembering. This accuring theme of knowing something but not remembering it was sometimes harsh on his nerves. Like the names, places, things.

For example, he knew who Prinzess Zelda was, that they shared an important bond, that he needed to save her, not only for the worlds sake, but because she was a friend! Yet in his memory there was nothing but the faint idea of long blond hair and water-green eyes.

Same was with this flute.  
He knew, a woman had gifted this to him when he was very young. He knew she tought him how to play it, how to take care of it. How he was advised to play this melody whenever he was sad or felt bad. That this melody would heal his wounds. But there was no face, no voice to the words in his head.

Link opened his eyes that he had closed during the play. The melody was soft and quite cheerfull in a way, yet the expression he had on his face, was at the brim of tears.  
What a hero he was. Not even able to remember the face of his own mother.

 _„What a nice melody.“_  
Startled from the voice next to him, he quickly got up from the stone he was sitting on, his hand twitching, hovering over the Slate.  
The figure chuckled. _“Easy, boy. Nice to see your reflexes still being so good.“_

„You again.“, his eyes grew wary. „Who are you?“

_“Oh, you know who I am, don´t you?“_

Link snorted, made his hands into fists. „Don´t play games with me!“  
The white-blonde figure tiltet his head, red eyes looking inocent towards him.  
_“I´m not.“_ , he said.

„Then why are you here?“, the young man asked with a growl.

Another chuckle and the figure causally walked towards him. _“... Because you, my friend...“_

Link twitched as the other disappeard with the next step and gasped as he reappeard right next to him, wispering into his ear: „- are very, very lost and lonely... Aren´t you?“  
The last bit was said in a pittyfull, soft voice, that felt so strange and wrong to him that it sent shivers down his back.

And then it was gone again. The voice, the figure. Link rubbed over his arms to make the goosebumps disappear and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to shake this moment off.  
He swallowed, then looked down to his side were the panflute lied in the grass where he had dropped it.

Gently he picked it up, blew some earth away and apologeticly picked a piece of moss from the braided strings.  
Then he weight it in his hands, looking at all it´s details, as if to make sure it was real.

„Am I going crazy?“

The answer to this quiet question echoed somewhere in the back of his head, leaving him with a heavy feeling inside his stomach.

_“At this point? Who knows...“_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay, chapter 6 is also done, chap 7 in the making, but... beta-reading is sooooo booooriiiing! XD  
> I edited this, while watching an Animal Crossing stream, so... if you see anything, feel free to tell me! xDv
> 
> Anyway, thanks to all who are reading this story and hopefully having fun while doing so! :3
> 
> Stay save out there, everyone!


	6. With You

It was already late in the afternoon, as he arrived at the Shee Vaneer Shrine. While he could have easily passed through between the peaks, he had spotted the three Shrines around here, from the top of the Duelling Peaks Tower and decided to use their trials as much needed training.  
At least that was what he had told himself, while he was climbing up the cold, windy southern peak, knowing that this was also a welcome delay on his way to Fort Hateno. One that he did not even had to feel bad about, since its purpose was to help him get stronger.

And Hylia knew how he needed every gallon of strenght he could gather! So tomorrow he would simply work his way down from the top Shrine, taking on one after another until he was down on the ground again and hopefully by tomorrow evening, he could lay down in a bed at the Stable! Oh how his muscles cheered at this near delight, promised in the future!

Unless of course he would just... die in one of the Shrines during the meantime, but then he would simply not have **any** problems anymore, right?

While these two mountains were not high enough to feature snow on their very tops, the wind up here was harsh and cold. Again he was glad for his warm clothes.  
At the entrance to the Shrine he asked himself if he should make camp for the night out here, sheltered by the structure, or maybe go inside and be out of the wind and the weather completely.

Thinking to spend the night inside a Shrine was weird though. He never had done that. The monks - not to be disrespectfull but...  
Spending the night in a place that was basically a tomb, with the body on display was rather... morbid.  
He shivered from the thought. And their faces were not always covered as well. What if one of them suddenly decided to open their eyes? Stare at him? ... While he was sleeping... No! No way!  
He rubbed his upper arms, to get the goosebumps away not only caused by the cold and shook his head a little to get rid of the picture.

Fighting against skeletons was enough for him, he did not want to see mummified Sheikah faces. And even after he would beat the trial causing the monks disappearence, the thought of that inside his head still made the idea of camping inside a no-go for him.

So he settled to set camp right next to the Shrine. The second one on the northern peak would have offered better shelter, but it would do for the night and he could make his way from the top directly. And what was a bit of cold, when the night before had been a thunderstorm?

To his luck, the fire held up quite nicely and the meatskewers had been well done and tasty! Now he sat there underneith his tent, halfway inside the Shrine entrance. In one hand he held the Slate, studying the map and his way towards the Stable.  
In the left hand he held his Panflute again, a lovely and quiet melody for this young nightly hours leaving the wooden pipes as he gently blew into it.

Surely he would make it to the Stable by tomorrow evening. That was, if the trials went nice on him. Well, he was not too optimistic about that, but he had gotten quite good with the puzzles and after some time, his fighting abilitys seemed to come back to him as well! So maybe...

_“You play that flute so niecely!“_

Link froze. No, not again...  
_Ignore it._ , he thought. _It´s nothing!_

The Sheikah-figure sat down next to him while the young man stared down at the Slate yet he had stopped the song, even though his lips were still against the wood.

_“Aw. Don´t stop. I like listening!“_

The skyblue eyes twitched, yet remaind on the device, even if he just stared at the Duelling Peaks name.

The figure tilted his head.  
_“What? You don´t wanna play for me?“_ The voice sounded dissapointed.

A snort came from the Hylian and he layed down the flute.  
„You´re not real.“, he mumbled, biting his tounge for actually saying this out loud. **Answering.**

Red eyes grew tight, the masked face seemingly offended.  
_“Am I not now? But I am talking to you, ain´t I? Sitting right here, next to you.“_

The other fumbled with his bag, putting away the Panflute.  
„You´re just in my head! You can´t affect anything in the real world!“

 _“Oooh, but so are your dreams at night. Your memories. Your thoughts. Aren´t those real things accuring? So for _you_ , I **am** very real.“_ , he said, leaning closer to him, as he was kneeling in front of the bag, which made Link shudder, feeling uneasy.  
_I´m affecting **you** , am I not?“_ The whisper next to his ear made him close his eyes, almost in disgust. What was wrong with his head?!

„You have no right to be here... especially not like _this_!“ the young Hylian hissed.  
The white-blonde layed back in his position, placing his hands behind him on the ground to steady his pose.

 _“What, you don´t want **me** to accompany you?“_, was the rather leisuraly asked question, eyebrows raised.

Now Link looked at him with a fierce look in his eyes and a hardness to his voice, that not a lot of people ever had experianced from him.  
„You´re not **him**!“

But his opponents face, seemed almost bored by this rather agressive behavior.  
_“Oh please! You barely remember **him** anyway!“_, he said, with a waving hand gesture.

„Yes, I do!“  
Link got to one knee, ready to jump up, already having his hands tightened into fists.

But suddenly the Sheikah stood in front of him, cold red eyes stairing down at him.  
_“Say my name then.“_ , he ordered and the young man bared his teeth.  
„It is not **your** name!“  
But the figure put his scarfed face in front of his own, making Link swallow, his breath going fast, as he felt pure stress flooding his system.

 _“Say it!“_ , the far too familiar voice spit in a comanding tone that made the young Hylian feel cold.  
„I- I...“ Links voice was gone, his chest raised and lowered in a fast interval. The palms of his heands felt cold and sweaty. He pressed his eyes shut.

 _“SAY IT!“_  
The shout made him twitch and his ears ring.  
„I don´t know...“, he wispered fast under his breath. His arms rose up, his hands now touching his cheeks.

_“SAY! MY! NAME!“_

„I DON`T KNOW!“, the young man shouted back. Holding his ears closed, he bent down forward, shivering as he wispered the words again. Tears filled his eyes as he rolled to the side, curled up tightly.

Over and over he whispered those words which got interupted by soft sobs as he cried, cried until he fell asleep.

The figure had been long gone before that...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Link layed face down on his bed in the small room at the castle, which he called his own. Normally he would share a room with at least one other recruit, but being a S.A.G.E. had its qualitys. A bed, a desk with a chair, a simple wardrobe and a wooden chest for personal belongings was all that fit in the room, but it was enough and he could be on his own. And of course nobody would notice and therefore question his different practice times.  
The door was at the foot end of the bed, a small window opposite of it, right in front of the desk.

Next to the young man on the bed, layed the devine sword in its shiny scabbard that he had gotten after he had pulled it out of its pedestal. Together with a Tunic. A blue one with the silhouette of the sword stiched in the front. But that layed abandoned, still neatly folded on top of his wooden chest, between the bed and the table.

He hated it. Hated everything about this situation right now. His shoulders shiverd from silent sobs and hot tears got soaked up by the pillow he had burried his face in.

It was not fair... It was not what he had wanted...  
Right after the ceremony was over, he had come back to his quarters, giving into the feeling of utter dispair and helplessness. Everyone was congratulating him, praising him for his apparent greatenes.  
Link had made it through this with the stern look of a trained soldier, repeating his thanks and what an honor it was, to be chosen. Bowing to the King and Princess like the well behaved soldier he was. The latter seemed rather angry at him, for reasons he did not know... And he hated it!

His father was so proud...

„Do you know what you did to me?“, the young man whispered, having his head turned towards the sword.

The blade had a gloom to it, almost reserved.

„Everyone will have an eye on me...“  
Another tear made its way down his cheek as he stared at nothing.

Link was now the appointed knight of the Princess, the direct decendend of Godess Hylia herself. He was the one chosen by the Sword. The one with the spirit of the Hero. Always had been.

What did that even mean? Was he just a spirit from the past? A ghost of old? Was he not his own being? Destined to be and act and live a certain way?

Of course, now people would expect greatness from him. Honorable deeds. The finest behavior and the best of manners, where he had woken up this morning to simply be Link.

But there was no room anymore to be a 17 year old boy. He had to be brave and strong, no matter what. His live for his princess and his kingdom... According to the sword, now he had to be **the** Link for this was the name he ever had worn... only no one ever even remembered.

Link pressed his lips together, as he felt a sharp sting inside his heart.  
Never had he wanted anything more in his life than to be one of the Royal Knights and serve the kingdom. But never like this... never this... definitive.

„I will never be free again...“, he whispered again and the light of the Sword dimmed even more, until it was gone.

Link noticed, but he decided that he wanted it this way.

As there was a knock on the door, he only burried his face in the pillow again. He knew this knock, knew who would enter shortly after.

And true to that, the young Sheikah entered the small room, tilting his head as he found the others figure flat on the matress.

„Link?“, he asked in a calm voice and Link recognised a slight concern in it. „Are you feeling alright?“ The door was closed again and the older came to stand next to his bed.

For some moments Link did nothing, but then slowly shook his head, still drowned into the feather bed. The other sighed, carefully sitting down at the edge of the matress.  
„Some heavy news, you got there.“, he said. „Must be pretty overwhelming, huh?“

Oh, if only he knew...  
The young Hylian took a deep breath, as he felt the warm hand of the other on his back. It was always calming when the Sheikah did this...  
„Don´t worry, Link. You will get into this new task in no time! And I am sure you´ll do a marvellous job! Princess Zelda couldn´t be in better hands.“

„You kept her save for years.“, Link mumbled, only moving his head enough to be able to talk. He did not want the older to see his face, all red from crying like a little girl!  
He could hear him taking a deep breath. „I did. But my time as her bodyguard is over. I knew this for years. Ever since the prophethy was layed out to us. I am not the one who can protect her from that. Not like you can.“

The Hylian snorted disparaging. „Why? ´Cause I´m the _Chosen Hero_? That makes me, someone who just became a Trainee, more qualified to guard the Princess, than someone who was trained since childhood? Today I skipped several ranks, because some old piece of metal was in the mood to be pulled out of an even older stone.“ He had now turned his head towards the other, his expression was angry and his eyes filled with disproval.

But the Sheikah only smiled down at him. A gentle, friendly smile.  
„Well. Yes. You always were extraordinarily talented, with a greate set of skills. And today we learned it is because you inhabit the spirit of the Hero. You were born for this task in every meaning of the phrase."  
The skyblue eyes fixated him as Link sat up now, frowning.

„So who **I** was up until now is not important anymore, for I have to be the legendary **Hero** from now on instead? ´Cause that´s how I was born and now it´s time to act on it?“ More and more anger swelled up inside of him.

The ruby-eyed seemed irritated by this outburst. „What? No! That´s not what I said! Of course you are yourself. Who you are is determend by your acts and experiance and memorys. By what you where tought and what you yourself belive in. No one can take that from you, Link!“ He placed a reasuring hand on Links shoulder, but he only looked away, biting his lip in distress.

Looking for something of help, the older let his eyes wander around the room, until his eyes fell on the Champions Tunik. He grabbed it. „Hey, is that your Champions outfit? Looks good!“, he said and held it spread out in front of himself. Then he looked back at Link. „Does it fit?“

A shrug was the answer.

„You know... it´s said that back in the old days, almost every Hero was wearing green. You´ll be the first one with something like this, since it´s supposed to match the others.“

Now the younger looked interested.  
He had to admit, he always liked the colour green, but blue was also in his... like at least top 5.  
...  
Along with a certain type of red.  
„Why green?“

The Sheikah smiled at him, seemingly glad to slowly get the other out of his bad mood. At least for a bit.  
„It all dates back to the first Hero chosen by the Gods. The first Knight of Hylia. The legends say, he was a normal young man, in a small town that was said to exist high up in the sky, above the clouds.“

„Above... the clouds?“, the blonde frowned to that and looked out of the window into the sky. A strange feeling came over him.

„Yes. Hylia herself is said to have brought her people there, to be protected from the forces of evil. They lived high above, flying on the backs of tall birds! Each a soulmate to one of Hylias children. And years and years later, this young man was born and as he was old enough, he wanted to become a knight, to protect his hometown.“ The Sheikah looked at the Hylian, seeing all the emotions ghosting over his face.  
„Each year, the passing graduates of the trial to become knights, got a tunic with a different colour. In the year the young man became a knight, it happened to be green.“, he smiled, „After he aided the first incarnation of Hylia and saved the land to which he and the Godess - later the first Prinzess of Hyrule, guided their people back, this gown became a symbol of bravery and courage. There are entrys, that thruought history, the colour of the Royal Familys Soldiers and Guards had been green. And so was the Hero. It is the colour of courage in our history. But fittingly, as it is its nature, of course also the colour of hope.“

Link took the tunic from the olders hands. „Why is it then blue now?“, he asked in a strange mix between desinterest and actual curiosity.  
Somehow he felt relived by this colour. It was different. Made him different.

„Because this time it isn´t only you who was ´chosen´. Each race brought forth a Champion with their own unique ability, who is said to be blessed by the Gods. All united under the flag of the Royal Family of Hyrule. To show this, they chose blue to represent loyalty.“  
Rubyred met with skyblue eyes.  
„Loyalty towards the crown, the land, the gods and their own respective folk.“

A complete lookover from the younger towards the older followed.  
„Is that why the Sheikah have so much blue in their clothing?“, he asked, now full of interest!  
The older man chuckled.  
„Well, it also has the benefit, of being good for hiding in the dark... but yes. At one point in history whe changed our colours deliberately to blues and purples. Blue for loyalty and the purple as the colour of royalty.“

„Loyal to the Crown.“, Link mumbled, stairing back down at the tunic in his hands. 

„Yes. But you see, just like you got this new tunik, you are an entirely new Hero. The Hero of our age! You are Link, Son of Ordon, a S.A.G.E. and from this day on Royal Knight and Champion of Hyrule. You aren´t flying on birds – sadly, but you will find your own way to aid Hyrule in this time of need. To be loyal to the crown. And also to yourself.“ Again he palced a hand on the Hylians shoulder, this time the other looked up at him, so he smiled.  
„And I promise, you won´t be alone. There will never be a time, when you will be all by yourself in this task, allright?“

They exchanged a long look. Oh how Link could drown in those eyes and bathe in those sunrays, that were the older mans smile. He smiled back, took a deep breath.  
„What were they called?“  
The Sheikah had an irritated look on his face at this question, so the other quickly specified.  
„The giant birds they were riding on, back then.“ 

„Oh!“ The red eyes were shifted to the side, the head tilted a bit. Links eyes were glued to his face. He wanted to burn every motion, every eyebrow twitch into his head!  
„If I remember right, their name had been ´Loftwing´.“, he then said. After that, the Sheikah got up and clapped his hands together. „Now! How about you give those a try? It´s time to officially make you meet the Princess. The day after tomorrow, you will meet the other Champions properly and you all will hold your oaths towards her highness and get your dutiys layed upon you.“ As he talked, he already made way to the door, Link had been gotten up as well, the tunic still in his hands. His eyes had a question, but the older only smiled. „I´ll wait in front of the door. So just get yourself ready okay? You also have target-training tonight, so time to get up and about!“

Link smiled back at him and nodded, the other gave a thumbs up and closed the door behind him.

The smile grew sad...  
Sheik was right. It was time to properly meet Princess Zelda, to get up to his new duties.  
It was time to face the truth.

„I will never be with you...“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 now! I have to say, I´m quite proud that I am still on this! xDv  
> Chapter 7 is done as well (without Beta) chap 8 in the making. Currently, everytime I have a chapter done, I Beta-read the previous and upload it. But since it is summer now, gardening season has me in its grasp, so writing takes a little longer.  
> Which brings me to a little request: Since english is not my first language and this being my first Fanfiction in years, I ask for a little feedback.  
> Is the story alright/understandable to read? Is my grammar okay, especially the placement of commas and such. I think they´re all over the place. XD  
> I look forward to your comments and hope to be able to improve! ^0^
> 
> Stay save everyone! :DV


	7. Loftwing

Swift footsteps were echoing through the empty hallway, leading to a heavy wooden door with two guards left and right. The men bowed their heads slightly to the newcomer who came to a halt in front of them, waiting as one of the bulky looking guys knocked on the door for her.

On the inside of the large, rather comfortable room a plump figure was sitting behind a desk, eyes on a lavishly decorated wooden casket. He smiled behind his mask as he heard the knock, raising his voice to allow entrance.

The wooden doors opened and closed behind the woman who stepped in, an identical mask on her face. She bowed deep down. "Greetings, Master Khoga." Her long, white ponytail flipped over her shoulder. "Greetings to you my dear. I understand your appearance as a good sign?" One could hear the pleased expression underneath the white and red mask. The Yiga-woman stood straight now, nodding her head. Her following words were slightly shivering from excitement! "Yes Master! We are ready to wake him up! Everything is in line and proceeding just as we want! All we need now is your input, Master!"

Master Kohga clapped his hands together cheerfully and let out a yipping sound of joy. "Wonderful! I knew I could trust my little laboratorians! I shall be with you right away then. No time to loose." The man explained and got up, packing the casket under his arm and with the other hand grabbing a banana from the fruitbowl on his desk.

He ate it rather nonchalant on their way further down, with the woman next to him trying to hide her hungry glances underneith her mask. The man knew anyway. Thats why he did it.

The next time doors where opened, it was to a almost dark room, with lots of technical devices, gentle blues and oranges the only source of light. Four more so called 'Laboratorians' stood up imediatly from their doings, bowing deep and respectful. "Master Kohga!", they greeted in unity. The man only raised a hand, stepping forward through the room, eyes fixated on the biggest, brightest source of light. It was a cubic built, ornaments and runes adorning the outside of the top and bottom part. The middle was made from blue energy without any sound and only sometimes, it was as if a gentle wave was fleeting over the surface of a silent pond in the deep forest. In the the center of the device, on a dark purple cushion sat a person, legs crossed, hands folded in the shape of a triangle with fingers held in a position so it would resemble the sign of the gods.

Kohga snorted as he saw this. "A man of firm belief, are we not?", he mumbled rather sneering as he looked him up and down. The paper talisman on his forehead, displaying the Sheikah-insignia covered up his face but Kohga knew who sat there in front of him anyway.  
He grinned and placed the casket on the pedestal the cube was placed on. The scientists in the room shuffeling closer like nosy Rats. "Master... what exactly is this?" Even the painted upside down eye looked greedy, as the master opened the lid, astonished 'ooh's and 'aah's filling the room for a moment. Kohga chuckled.

"This, my dear friends, is a relic of the old days. A myth that came true, now that I was able to find it. It is one of the few great treasures of the hated mother-clan, written down in the legends, once aiding even the Hero of long ago see, what no other than a Sheikah could understand." His fingers run delicately over the rims of the carved wood, the magic inside the object having a sleepy vibe to it, as if it was woken from a deep slumber. The snowy white was letting the colours of the different lightings dance around its surface, the blood red markings almost flickering around the bringt yellow of the middle. The markings resembled an eery smile, combined with the Sheikah-eye as if someone was tortured yet happy about it.

Each of the five laboratorians felt a shiver down their spine upon seeing this long lost relic of the past. The past of their ancestors - fools in their eyes, from a time so long ago, no one could really remember.  
"The hated mother-clan has forgotten about their old tools... But not me! And it thanked me by falling into my hands, ready to serve our deeds against those who forgot about it long ago! The Mask of Truth was once made so someone who was in need could comunicate with Gossip Stones and find their way to savety, most likely the royal family in times of need." , he snorted in a degrading manner. "It´s even said one could comunicate with animals by wearing it. It lets you find truth in what you seek, whatever that may be." Khoga then stepped on the pedestal with the mask in hand and gave a signal to one of the laboratorians. "Well let´s wake up our guest from his slumber, shall we?" And with that, the Yiga scientist pushed a few buttons and the blue forcefield around the cube flickered, before finally bursting into strings of light, shattering into nothing.

The master looked at the backside of the mask in his hands, grinning devilish underneith his own, as he once more let his eyes run across the ink markings he had drawn by himself. "Now, may the ´truth´ guide him on the right path.", he said with a joyful snicker and reached out, placing the mask almost gently upon the face of the still unconcious figure, slipping away the talisman at the same moment.  
The masks eye glimmered in a rich yellow, Master Kohgas laugh was triumphand as he reached out both arms.

"Rise, Yiga-Champion!"

And the folded hands of the man, twitched.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

When Link came down the mountain, he felt exhausted. Maybe three shrines in a row were a bit much, even though they were not hard, physically. Ree Dahee had him nearly fall into the abyss once, but he managed to grab the edge of the moving platform. Luckily. If those Shrines were made to test him as a Hero, some danger - yeah fine, understandable. But right away death sentences seemed a little harsh on him to say the least. 

He shook his head as he folded the Paraglider and tapped it into the Slate. Better not to think about it anymore. Last night was enough strain to his head, beeing the main reason for his overall state. He had slept deep but very unpleasantly. He tryed to keep his head silent, even though he remembred the ´dream´completely. The honey blonde took a deep breath, rubed his tired eyes and looked into the sky. He had gotten up early this morning, but now it was late afternoon already. From his standing point, which was right at the foot of the mountain, the river flowing next to him to his right, he started to look around and match his surroundings with the Slate´s map. There was Big Twin Bridge right there, along with the Stable. Link could also point out the road he would take next, to reach the next area and with that, Hateno Village.

The young man made a sour face as he also saw the Shrine to his left, standing there in a pool of water and surrounded with nasty looking spikes. "Nah-uh, not to day, no chance.", he murmured. What was up with that anyway? Was there a bunch of Monks all being like ´ **I** want a Shrine at Dueling Peaks! - No **I** want a Shrine there!´and so they just all got one here to get them quiet. He could and could not picture that in his head and it made him massage the bridge of his nose. Hopefully he would never learn the truth. And better to call it a day and get some rest.

The Slate was clipped back at its place on the belt, and he made some steps towards the stable yet halted in his movement as he heard a sound. He looked to his right and saw in the near distance, right next to a little gathering of trees, that the Stable had built a paddock there, were some horses were chewing grass or doing dustbaths.

A little smile came over his lips and without realy thinking about it, he walked over there, happy to be able to come close to those beautiful creatures without having to crouch or sneak up to them. These horses had their owners most likely sitting inside the Stable, or were left here to be taken care of in their absence. Surely a few were belonging to the Stable itself, worked with or open to be sold. 

As the young man came up to the fence, one of the horses seemed to see its chance as it came right in front of him, looking him deep into his blue eyes with his own brown ones. Link grinned widely as he saw the brown and white animal approach him. "I know what you want.", he said and raised both hands, starting to rub and scratch the big, warm cheeks which was highly enjoyed and appreciated.

"Someones a cuddler, huh?" Link chuckled as the horse layed its head to the side, the spot right behind the ear doing its charm just as with any other animal it seemed. He wondered if Aslan would reakt the same and laughed a bit from that mental image. "Thanks horsie. Our meeting made me feel all better. Hadn't had a good night, you know.", he said in a gentle voice, a soft smile on his lips. The horse snorted relaxed, eyes having a happy touch to them.  
But then, Link noted something from the corner of his eye.

A tall stallion with long, slender legs and a silky goldish white mane. The fur was of a coppery colour, but in the setting sun seemed so warm and deeply red. The eyes were dark, almost black from were he could see them and this wonderful creature looked directly his way, almost as if right into his very soul. Suddenly he felt wind on his face, despiteo no leaf was moving. He saw an ocean of blue sky and white soft clouds flashing before his inner eyes.

In a heartbeat he knew he wanted - no, _needed_ this horse!  
The sorrel shook his mane in a graceful manner and then turned around, walking away and for a short moment it almost felt a little cocky to Link.

As if he was saying 'try me, if you dare'.

Oh, he would! He gave the cuddly horse a smile and a last pet before making his way back, towards the Stable. But not without a last look over his shoulder.

Dueling Peals Stable had the same cheery atmosphere as Outskirt and it was a welcome change from all the silent ruins and destroyed homes around the land. And a much needes distraction from his thoughts. There was a guy standing outside, mumbling something about the ´Blood Moon´ and writing something in a notebook. Link did not really feel like talking to this man, despite him seeming to know interesting things maybe. He just did not feel hungry for answers about this pesty monthly accourance, that made his life even more a pain in the ass.

He rather looked up the Stable tent, the lovely colours around, the huge horse head that Link wondered if every Stable had on top, and of course, a lovely guard dog who came his way, inspecting the newcomer by sniffing on his boots and also his face as Link kneeled down to say a propper hello to this undoubtfully good boy!

He laughed as then dog rolled over to also get his belly scratches, waving his tail all over the place.  
Inside were only a few people, sitting at a table to eat or playing cards while drinking beer. Two beds had the curtains around them closed for someone seeking privacy and most likely sleep. Nobody cared much for him, yet he tried to make a friendly face as he walked over to the counter and rang the little bell that was placed there for the Stable Owner to notice him.

From the back he could hear busy noises, seemingly dinner preperations were already in full progress. His stomach found this to be a very welcome circumstance!  
"Cremia, take o'er for me, would ya dear.", he heard a mans deep voice and soon after said man showed up behind the counter, drying his hands on a cloth hanging from where he had tugged it in his belt. He was the picture of a stable worker, strong arms and a wide back, experiance in his eyes and a calm smile framed by a well groomed, black beard that seemed to make up for the hair missing on the top of his head.

"Good'ay to you, young lad. What can I do for ya?"  
Link nodded in a greeting manner, trying to straighten up his ears to appear more friendly and awake. Something he had started doing whenever he met another person, not knowing if this was something he had done in the past as well. But he had found it to be helpful to make other traverlers less wary of him and those who turned out to be his opponents in the end were fooled by his harmless appearance. The less delightful encounters were a shame though.

"I was hoping you may have dinner and a free bed?"  
"Sure do, lad!" The man laughed delighted of the new customer in his deep vibrating voice. "Best you pick one o' those three o´er this side, there all free."  
The blonde followed his nod to the right and already decided for the one closest to the right. A backdoor, leading to the stables was near. But also the kitchen and being woken up by the smell of breakfast was one of the nicest things, Link had never knew he would miss one day.

"Cooking's done in a bit, water's on the table, unless you want somethin' else?"  
The Stable Owner asked and the blonde looked back at him.  
"No, water is fine, thank you." And with that, the tall man nodded at him and went back behind the curtain he came from, while Link made his way over to the chosen bed and closing his curtain around it. Only then did he start to unpack his things. First of all, he placed the Slate on the little nightstand for the moment, his leather pouch on the bed and the long, wrapped in fabric rifle, he settled between nightstand and bed.

Looking at it for a while, he sighed and finally sat down, letting out a little hum of aproval as he felt the matress underneith him. Link freed his feet from his boots and made a bit of a face as he looked at them. Some of the blisters on his toes had opened up and would surely start to burn soon enough. He needed socks. And new boots. And new clothes. Another sigh as he rubbed over the bridge of his nose again. "A new life would be nice too, while we´re at it.", he mumbled.

Streching out his arms, he let himself fall back on the bed, closed his eyes and listened to the music that two of the other guests had startet. Places like this truly felt different from the rest of Hyrule.

He wondered if these people even knew that the danger was still out there and even their lives could be turned around in mere moments. Just like his did...  
The young warrior opened his eyes again. No time to fall back into such dark corners again! It would happen often enough, he decided and now he just wanted a full stomach and maybe some good nights rest even! So he got up and back into his boots, which made him flinch. 

Yep... Walking would be a nightmare the next few days...

Link placed himself at a nearby table, taking a ceramic cup and filled it with some water from the carafe. Others already were brought their food and by the looks of it, it was a vegetable stew with bread and additionaly some ham and cheese.  
His mouth watered. It was nice to not have to work for a good meal and his wallet was filled enough to not worry about the costs either!  
So the young Hylian asked for the full order, but before the man could turn away he stopped him.

"I wanted to ask if I may talk to you about a horse I saw on the paddok. Later of course when there is time.", Link asked, with his best manners and a polite smile.  
The bearded man chuckled and placed his big hands on his hips.  
"Yer interested in one, lad? I'll send my daugter o'er she's the one in charge for the buissnes.", he said with a little laugh and went back towards the kitchen.  
Link was excited! A horse would be a greate help on his journey and if he could get _this_ horse, it would be even better, he was sure of that!  
He took a big gulp of his water when suddenly a plate and a bowl appeared on his table, full with the best meal he had seen in weeks!

"Hi, my name is Cremia!" A young woman said, smiling down at him as she stood next to the table. "Father said, you may have interest in one of the horses over at the paddock? I can tell you which are free."  
The young man nodded and smiled back, gesturing at the opposite side of the table. "Please, sit down if it's allright to talk about it while I eat?" With a laugh Cremia sat down.  
"Of course not. So, which one are you interested in?"  
Dunking a piece of bread into the stew, he smiled again and with glimmering blue eyes, he looked at her. "There is this beautiful sorrel I saw. If that one's free, I'd like to see if we like each other." He took a bite and looked over hopefully.  
The face the red haired woman made was a strange one. Her eyebrows drawn together and her expression reserved.  
"That could be... a problem."  
"Why? If there already is an owner then... well bad luck for me." Link answered, irritated by her reaction.

But she only shook her head, raising a hand. "No, no, the stallion is for sale...technically. You see, he has quite the temper, no one who had interest in him was able to tame him and gave up in the end. Father only has him cause he found him hurt by Bokoblins which seemed to also had tried to tame him. You can try if you want, but be warned! He is wild and seems to like it that way. You could even get hurt."

Now it was Link, who drew his eyebrows together. Sounded like a challenge indeed. But thinking about how this horse had looked at him, he felt like he had already taken it on.  
"Don't think I feel like something better, but maybe I have a chance. My ways with horses are a bit rusty, but I think I can handle. And if he truly doesn't want me, I'll accept it.", he said, determination in his eyes and voice, which also seemed to somewhat impress Cremia. She nodded and got up from her seat. "Well, if it is like this, I'll accompany you to the paddock, tomorrow morning after breakfast. I'll lend you everything you need in terms of horsegear for then."

Link smiled at her and nodded. "Thank you! 'Till tomorrow then."  
She grinned a little cheeky and the way she did reminded Link of someone from long, long ago. This made him smile even more as they wished each other a good night and Cremia made her way back towards the curtain, leading to the back of the Stable. Link could shortly see her talking to three other girls, which then stared at him and one after another quickly turned away.

Okay, strange...

He shook his head and for now, Link fixed his full concentration on his delicious meal, only to fall into his bed later, a full stomach and a thankful spine letting him smile a little.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Absolutely out of breath, he leand against the fence with his back, arms left and right on the wooden stem. He was barefoot and only wore his worn out trousers, which allowed the morning sun to give his bare chest a silky glow.  
Cremia stood next to him on the other side of the fence, her chin cupped in one hand with the belonging ellbow on the wood, the other reached a bottle with water over to Link.  
"I told you he's a hard one. Sure you don't want another horse? The brown one with the white spots seems to be in love with you."

Link took some greedy sips from the waterbottle. Then he looked over to the sorrel who looked back, shaking his mane a bit.  
He grinned proudly as he saw that he had managed to get him out of breath just as well.  
"No.", he answered. "I'm doing just fine."

The woman sighed. "If I wouldn´t know better, I'd say you both have way too much fun."  
In that moment, the horse was snorting in their direction, as if to ask when this would finally continue!  
Link chuckeld amused, his cheeks red from runnung around and his eyes shimmering with determination. "Maybe a little. He's greate. Looks almost like he's flying. I never met a horse like this."  
Some high pitched giggles from off to the side made both Link and Cremia look over to the three young women who stood there, cheering for Link and without a doubt drooling over his looks.

"They always like that?" Link asked and Cremia snorted. "It's not too often they have a sight like this. Would be lying if I said I don't like to watch as well.", she said with a cheeky grin. Link raised an eyebrow and made a humming sound, giving back the waterbottle as he pushed himself from the fence, making his way back towards the sorrel who was shortly looking at the girls as well, before flapping his tail and watching Link come closer.

They stood in front of each other, looking in each others eyes and as if there was a secret signal, they started chasing each other around again, with Link trying to get a hold of the horses back to get up.

He had already spent the whole morning this way, both sides eager to not give up, when finally, the sorrel got a bit too cocky and came near enough for Link who reacted quickly. He stemmed his arms on the wide back and in a swift movement he swung himself on top, holding on as the stallion noticed his mistake and started running like a maniac.

It was amazing!

The air around him got cut by the sheer speed and for a short moment Link truly felt like he was flying between clouds and the blue sky. It felt right.

But the moment came to a sudden end, when the sorrel decided, bucking up and running would not bring the desired outcome, so he resorted to simpler methods. The young man moaned in pain, as his body hit the ground after the other had let himself fall sideways to the ground. Of course the horse got back gracefully in a second, looking over its shoulder almost smugly, but Link felt the world spinning for a moment and was sure, the smarter thing to do now, was to stay put.

He heard the girls squeak and Cremia calling out for him so the only thing he did, was raising an arm to wave and give a thumbs up, to calm them down.  
Maybe he should take some rest for a while...  
Maybe eat a little and then come back to this devil of a horse.

"Hm?" He opened his eyes only to find the stallion, gently snorting in his face, the soft horse lips moving through his hair.  
He laughed a bit.  
"So you're a softy afterall, huh? Don't worry you didn't kill me. I just need a break it seems. That went unlucky for me, I guess." He rubbed his fingertips over the horses head and petted his cheeks. Then he took a deep breath and sat up.  
Cremia was coming over, shaking her head.  
"You're one crazy lad, Link. But you actually managed that he's somewhat fond of you it seems. Guess the question whether you ride him or not is now nothing more than just a guy-honor-bullshit thing?"

The young man grinned towards the horse and the sorrel neighed, while shaking his mane.  
"Pretty much, yeah. Propper ettiquette, you know?"

She nodded with a raised eyebrow. "I see. Well how about you two take a break, eat and drink something. You can go and play again later. How about some-" Cremia was abruptly cut short as they heard scrams, the girls waving at them frantically.

"Cremia! The stable! They´re attacking the stable!"  
"Kyah! Bokoblins!"

"What?!" Disturbed she run to the fence to be able to have a better view over at the Stable. And truly, a horde of 6 to 8 Bokoblins, some on horses wrecked havok.  
"They never dared to come this close...", Cremia mumbled in disbelief, eyes wide.  
"Hide! I'll go help my father!" She called over to the girls and was on her way to climb through thr fence, when Link grabbed her arm.  
"Stay here with the horses. I'll go and help fending them off!"  
"Huh? But-" - "No!" Link cut her off in a calm but steady voice. This and his stern look, that was so different from the open, friendly young smile he normaly had, made her close her lips tight and she nodded.

Link looked over to the red stallion who came closer now and the Hylian placed his hand on the warm, soft nose as they shared a look.

"Now or never, my friend."

The horse snorted, Link nodded and in the blink of an eye, hooves started moving, feet almost danced, hands got a grip and with widened eyes, Cremia watched as the sorrel jumped over the fence, Link on his back like he had never done anything else.  
No saddle, no bridle, instead she saw him grab the nearest pitchfork as he rode past it.  
"Are you fuck´n kiddi´n me?", She gasped, the three girls squeeking in an excited mix behind her.

Now that he realy was riding this time, it truly felt natural, it felt good to sit on this horses back. Only few times had he had this feeling and for a short moment there was a white mane flashing in his memory, a tall and strong brown body and the most loyal eyes he had ever seen on a horse.

But this time, he felt like soaring through the air, as he aproached the Stable in what felt like seconds.  
The workers and Stable Chief tried their best to defend themselfes against the Bokoblins, trying to hinder them from entering the tent, where most of the guests hid. Only two were equiped enough to help fighting, the rest did their best in barricading the back entrance.

One of the red, pig-like creatures was trying to break the fence around the sheep, the dog barking and attempting to bite, but a second Bokoblin pushed him away, raising its massive club over the wimpering dogs head.

It shreeked as the thrown pitchfork hit it in the back, the body falling to the side and vanishing into purple smoke. Before the pitchfork had time to fall over, Link already grasped it again, swinging it against the one at the fence, ramming it in its head as it turned around, angry about the disturbance. It vanished just the same.

"Chief!!"  
With the pressure of his legs, Link turned the horse around at the scream, only to see that the Stable Chief had lost his sword, a badly bleeding wound at his upper arm.

The rest of the mob surrounding the entrance, closing in on the 6 defenders.

Without loosing time, he gave the signal to the sorrel, who started running again. 0 to a 100 in seconds! Yet Link was able to notice three other Bokoblins with torches aproaching from the sides.

"Oh, no you don't!", he growled and threw the pitchfork again like a spear, hitting one and alarming the other, which squeeked and got the attention of the intruders at the front. Those finally noticed Link, turning around immediately as if triggered by something, starting to run towards him, weapons raised.

"Tsk. As if I didn't deal with you small flies often enough.", the blonde grumbled, already stearing towards a tree trunk and swiftly grabbing the big iron axe that was sticking out.

The first one had nothing but a stick with it and simply got trampled over by the sorrel, giving Link all the time in the land to swing the axe against the second one, plunging it into its chest. Using the momentum to hammer the third one approaching him, they as well disappeared in a cloud of malice and in an elegant move, Link turned the horse around in a small curve, already aiming at the next one, only to seperate the head cleanly from its body.

He stopped the horse between the defending party in front of the Stable entrance and the  
last bunch of Bokoblins, the axe at his side and eyes filled with fierce. That made the Bokoblins stop and actually duck their heads a bit in fear, unsure of what to do.  
Until one of them let out a shreek and threw the torch at the Stable, only tho get hit by the axe between its eyes, as Link had thrown it in the same moment.

Unfortunately the torch had not missed completely and so, the fabric left to the entrance was on fire in mere seconds.

"Quick! Get the buckets! Lead the horses out and evacuate the others!", the Stable Chief ordered in a loud voice.

The monsters saw their chance again, but Link did not move out of the way.  
"Throw me your sword!", he called to the Chief, who wasted no time and did what he was told, grabbing and throwing the sword with his unharmed arm towards Link, who already had told his horse to start running again. The young warrior catched it easily, now plowing to the leftover Bokoblins, which screeched and flew several meters by the sheer impact alone.

"Heyyyaah!", Link screamed as he swung the sword and watched them all disintegrate to smoke.  
He looked around, making sure those were truly the last of them. At that moment, something catched his eye. Up in the distance on a hill, Link saw a figure. He shielded his eyes against the sun with his free hand and watched closer.  
The figure seemed to wear a dark cloak and some red clothing underneath. Also its face seemed weirdly white and distorted from this distance. A mask...  
"Yiga...", he mumbled, making a face. It was never a pleasure to meet them. He felt the figure staring at him for a while, before turning around and disappearing behind some trees.

"Link!" Cremia came running towards him, the girls on her toe. "Are you alright?", she asked out of breath, looking up at him.  
He nodded. "But look after your father! His arm got wounded."  
The girls blue eyes widened and without another word she ran over to the Stable, where her father was sitting on a bench to the side. The fire was luckily extinguished already and everybody stood outside now, looking at the damage. Not to much fortunatly, but a good part was an open hole now.

As Link came closer, Cremia was taking care of her fathers wound. She just closed the bandage, as her fathers hand shook hers off with a gentle gesture, before the man stood up. The young Hylian was reliefed to see this.  
"Are you alright?", he asked anyway.  
The man smiled. "Yes, thanks to you, lad. Without your help, those bastards had just burned down the whole Stable, taken the sheep and surely the horses too."  
Links cheeks got a titbit warmer. He was never good with praise. "I just did what I thought was the right thing to do. I'm kinda used to deal with them by now...", he mumbled, rubbing his neck. 

"You saved us! And all that while riding **this** horse! Link, you're amazing!", Cremia called out, stepping next to her father, fists up to her chest.  
"You're our hero!" One of the three girls swooned, the other two nodding eagerly.  
"Huh? No, I-" - "Indeed you are!", the Stable-Chief intervened. He came a step closer, gently rubbing his hand over the sorrels nose, who closed his eyes and snorted softly. "And I believe, a hero needs a good horse. Seems like this one has chosen you. Take him. As a gift for your help in times of need!"

Links eyes widened. While shaking his head the young man tried to reject. "What? No, you can't just gift me a horse, thats-" But Cremia crossed her arms. "Not even enough for our lives saved." - "But... I couldn't even stop them from setting fire to the tent!"

The Chief only smiled at him. "Some wood and fabric. Can be repaired in a day. You protected me and my workers, the other guests... and my daughter." His eyes layed on her, thankful that not a hair was picked from her. She smiled back sweetly.  
"Also, this horse already made his decicion. I doubt I could get him sold to anybody else, and it saddens me to see him on this paddock all day. He needs more room to run and see places." The man added, running his hand over his beard.

They looked at each other for a while and Link felt as if he would say something against this again, he would get beaten. But he also felt thankful and happy as he looked at the horse he was still sitting on. The sorrel turned his head a bit, looking at him and snorted.

"...Alright. I'll take him with great gratitude!", the warrior then finally said, which pleased the Stable-Chief and made Cremia smile widely.  
"Then, all the good fella needs, is a propper name!"

Link looked the horse in the eyes, petting the side of his soft neck and a gentle smile appeared on his lips. He knew from the first time he had seen him.

"Loftwing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thiiiis took longer than expected. o.ô  
> Not the writing, but beta-reading and uploading. xD" There was a lot happening in my life, I moved house, my PC wasn´t working and  
> the new Windows update made me loose a few things, including (luckily minor, easily rewritable) parts of this fic. :D" fun times yes, yes.
> 
> New chaps are already there, just need some fixing and of course, the dreaded beta-reading. xD  
> Words stop having any meaning if you stare at them long enough.
> 
> I also wanna fix some small details in the first chapters, so no promises about the next upload. °_°/ But be advised: I am working on this baby :Dv
> 
> Hope you all have a fun time.


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